Karina Potter, Mini Marauder
by HannahHatter
Summary: Karina had grown up facing a great fate. Going to Hogwarts with her older brother, James Potter! He had been teasing her and telling her all about it ever since he'd gone to Hogwarts one year before. Now its her turn and she is hexcited, especially after she meets James's friends, Remus, Sirius, and Peter.
1. Chapter 1

"James! Please, won't you tell me? Pretty please?" Karina begged her older brother. James laughed and shook his head.

"Sorry, Rina. You'll just have to wait until September. Now come on! Mum's taking us to Diagon Alley to get your supplies!" Karina gave her brother a shove onto his bed, then ran down the stars as fast as she could, jumping onto the stair rail and sliding all the way down to the second floor. She then ran into the kitchen to find her mother doing the dishes, using magic of course.

"Mum!" She wailed. "I thought we were going to Diagon Alley!" Marie Potter laughed, finishing the dishes.

"Alright, my impatient one!" She said, then she called upstairs. "James! Let's go! We're Floo Powdering down to Diagon Alley!"

"Coming, Mum!" James called, sliding down the banister after her.

As soon as they'd reached Diagon Alley, their mother gave them each some pocket money.

"Now you two, I'm trusting you. James, you can go look at brooms for Quidditch tryouts if you want to, but I want you to watch out for Karina. And take her down to get a cat or an owl, will you? I'll get her books and the rest of her things." James nodded, wrapping an arm around Karina and pulling her close.

"Don't worry, Mum! Ickles Rinakins is always safe with me!" Karina pushed him away, laughing. "Come on, Rina! Maybe we can meet up with Sirius, Remus, and Peter!" That made Karina excited. She knew Remus pretty well, as he came over sometimes. She didn't know Peter very well because he was rather skittish and often afraid to do much magic, even something as simple as Floo Powder so he hadn't came over much over the summer, and she hadn't met Sirius at all.

Karina and James raced through Diagon Alley, looking for the sweetshops and the broom shops.

"Prongs! Karina! Over here!" They heard someone call. They turned and saw Remus by the potions shop, waving at them. His parents were inside, speaking with the owner.

"Hi Moony!" James called as they ran over. "Have you seen Padfoot and Wormtail?" Remus shook his head.

"I thought I saw Madam Black down Knockturn Alley, but I wasn't sure. But you know who I did see down by Ollivander's?"

"Who?" James asked, Karina just as curious, especially about the odd names.

"Lily Evans! And she was talking to Snivelleus!" James's eyes went wide, then he looked at Karina, rubbing his chin.

"Come on, Karina! We need to get your wand!" Then he motioned for Remus to follow them. Remus told his parents, then they led Karina down to Ollivander's, Karina curious on what getting her wand had to do with Lily Evans and this Snivelleus person.

As they approached Ollivander's, Karina saw a red haired girl with emerald green eyes talking to a boy with long black hair and a hook nose.

"Hey, Lily!" James called, pulling Karina along. The red haired girl looked over and rolled her eyed when she saw James.

"James Potter." She said slowly, the other boy turning around. "What are you doing here?" James put his arm around Karina, looking cocky.

"Just bringing my little sister, Karina, up to get her first wand. Wanna come with us?" Lily nodded, smiling at Karina.

"Of course! Severus, do you mind?" The other boy shook his head, looking sullen.

"No, I have to go find my parents anyway. See you around, Lily. Good luck in your first year, Karina." James's smile turned to a scowl.

"Get outta here, Snivelleus." Severus just looked at James with a empty eyes, then ran off towards the potions shop.

When Karina entered the wand shop, it was not at all what she had been expecting. She'd expected lots of first years, shooting magic like madness, with a cheery older man running around fixing their wands just right for them. Maybe even a few wands on display. But all there was, was an old desk with a few boxes on it and shelves upon shelves of boxes. And it was pretty much empty.

Or so she thought, until she heard someone clearing their throat. She looked behind the desk, and saw an elderly man looking at her.

"Ah, Miss Potter." The old man said, and Karina assumed that he was Ollivander. "I've been expecting you. I've heard a little bit about you from Mr. Potter and Mr. Lupin." Then,without ado, he came over and began measuring her and making her cheeks get warm. She had always been short for her age, which she found unfair, as James was pretty tall.

After the measuring, Ollivander went over to the shelves and pulled out a couple of boxes. Then he had her try a few wands, until she found one that seemed just right.

"Fourteen inches, good and sturdy, beechwood and dragon heartstring." Karina smiled, feeling twice as tall with the wand. She gave Ollivander the seven Galleons she owed, then she met back up with James, Lily, and Remus outside, where they heard two voices yelling.

"Come back here! Sirius! Auntie won't like that you ran off!" Called a young girl's voice after a disheveled younger boy, who looked scared of her.

"Leave me alone, Bellatrix!" The boy called back. "Let me be!"

"Sirius! Bellatrix! Come back! Or else I'm telling Mum!" a second girl's voice called, and they saw her running after the others.

"That's Sirius!" James exclaimed. "And stinkin Bellatrix and Narcissa! Come on, let's go help him!" Then he and Remus went after the three, and Karina saw no choice but to follow.

"Leave him alone, Bellatrix!" James shouted.

"Lookit, Cissy!" Bellatrix stopped chasing Sirius to stop and laugh at James, Remus, and Karina. "Looks like Potty Potter has a miniature!" Karina stood her ground. "Come on, Potty! Show us what for! Defend your friend!"

"Don't do it, James!" Sirius told him, running over by him. "Don't get yourself in trouble."

"Potty can't do it! Potty can't do it!" Bellatrix teased.

"Bellatrix and Narcissa Black! Ge back over here!" They heard a shrill voice call, and saw the two Madame Blacks, Walberga and Selfinia, standing there. Next to Madame Selfinia stood a girl who looked like her sisters. She was called Andromeda. Next to Madame Walberga, stood Sirius's brother, Regulus.

"Sirius! Come along now!" Walberga told him.

"Actually ma'am, may Sirius come with us?" James asked, using a tone that Karina had only ever heard him use in front of their mother. Madame Walberga nodded, as if she couldnt care less.

"Fine!" The she and Regulus left, followed by Selfinia, Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa.


	2. Chapter 2

"You alright there, Padfoot?" James asked Sirius as the long haired boy caught this breath.

"Yeah. Just Bellatrix. She was teasing me again about being in Gryffindor, then she threatened to hex me! And when I tried to ask Uncle Halgred to get her to stone, he just told her to get me!"

"Wait. Bellatrix Black?" Karina asked. "If she's your cousin, then how are you in Gryffindor? I thought that all of the Blacks were in Slytherin." James shook his head.

"Not Padfoot! He's a Gryffindor, through and through! Just like the rest of us!" Then James smacked his forehead. "Oh that's right! You haven't met Padfoot!" Then he cleared his throat.

"Sirius, meet my little sister, Karina. Karina, meet my brother from a different mother, Sirius Black, aka, Padfoot."

"We should think up a Marauder name for Karina." Remus told them.

"Wait, Karina's a Marauder now?" They heard a jittery voice say, and turned and saw Peter Pettigrew coming up. James nodded at him.

"Of course she is! She just has to pass this test." Karina furrowed her eyebrows.

"Test?" James nodded, and handed her two cans labelled Silly String.

"I found these in a Muggle party shop. The man there told me to put them to good use." Then he turned her around and pointed at an eighteen year old boy with receding long white hair and a black coal buttoned at his neck, heading for Borgin and Burkes. "That's Lucius Malfoy. You press down on the caps here, and smelly, sticky string will come out! I want you to spray Malfoy with it." Karina felt her heart jump, and felt a hand go on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Remus looking protective and looked round to see Peter looking nervous. Even Sirius seemed uneasy.

"Are you sure about that, James? She's only eleven, and Malfoy's a graduated Slytherin. Him and Snivelleus were friends while he was in school and his father's a Death Eater!" Remus told him. Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, plus he's Narcissa's boyfriend. She'd kill me if she knew my best friend's little sister bothered her sweet "Licorice Lucius"." They all laughed at the mock swoon that Sirius did.

"Don't worry, Sirius, Rina's got this! Right, Rina?" Karina nodded. Being a Marauder was part of her legacy at Hogwarts and if she couldn't pull some Muggle trick on stinkin Lucius Malfoy, then what kind of Marauder would she be?

"I got this, Moony." She said, using his Marauder name to emphasise her point. "Don't worry, Padfoot." Then she slipped out from under Remus's protective hand and slipped through the crowd, careful not to shake the cans of Silly String as she followed Malfoy down Knockturn Alley, not to her knowledge.

This scared even James a bit. Knockturn Alley was Death Eater central. She could get into all sorts of trouble down there, and that wasn't the sort of trouble he liked. So he took Sirius by the arm and the two followed her down, Remus coming up behind them and Peter deciding to wait for them to come back.

Soon, Karina was in perfect position, and slipped her way by the front door of Borgin and Burke's.

"Hey, Lucius!" She exclaimed, then sprayed him with the green and silver Silly String, making him shout and causing all sorts of attention to be drawn to them. James and Sirius laughed, but quickly stopped as Malfoy pulled out his wand.

"Stop!" He shouted, and Karina froze, two strings still hanging in the air, a smile on her face as she laughed. When Malfoy unfroze her, she stopped spraying, the smile clearing from her face faster than a Snitch. "I'll have your head for that, you ignorant welp!" Malfoy raised his wand again, and the Marauders quickly came running over.

"Karina!" They pulled her away and ran out of Knockturn Alley, just as Malfoy tried to hit her with what James hoped was only a Stunning spell, but what might've been the Cruciatus Curse. His sister had just been about to have an Unforgivable Curse set on her! He would have never forgiven himself if he'd let that happen.

As they ran back into Diagon Alley, they bumped into some very unhappy people. Karina and James's mother Marie, Remus's parents, and Peter with his parents.

"What in the name of Merlin were you four thinking!? Going down Knockturn Alley!?" Marie shouted at them. That was when she saw the cans in Karina's hands that she held so tightly, her knuckles had turned white. "Karina, what are in those cans? And what is that smell!?" Marie was not happy. Remus's parents Peter's parents took their kids away to tell them off, but Sirius stayed put.

Karina looked sheepish as she held up the cans. "Silly String? From a Muggle party shop?" Marie looked behind them, and Karina turned to see Malfoy, walking towards Narcissa, still covered in green and silver stickiness.

"Karina Rose Potter. did you spray Lucius Malfoy with Silly String?" Karina nodded.

"It was my fault, Mum!" James told her quickly. "She wanted to become a Marauder, so I told her to get Malfoy. I even bought the cans." Marie's face was so red, Karina was sure she was going to explode.

"James Alldred Potter. Are you saying that you went into a Muggle shop, bought Muggle product, gave it to your eleven year old sister, and sent her down Knockturn Alley to torture Lucius Malfoy, son of a Death Eater?"

"Well, more like prank Lucius Malfoy, but you get the idea." James told her. That didn't improve his point. Marie looked to Sirius, who looked as nervous as Karina felt.

"Sirius, please go find your mother. James and Karina are grounded until they go to Hogwarts!" Sirius nodded, then ran towards Ollivander's, just as Lily Evans came over to see what was going on.

"Sirius! What's going on?" She asked as Marie grabbed both Karina and James by the hand and pulled them away.

"Come on, you two! We're going home!" Sirius looked to Lily.

"James sent Karina to spray Muggle Silly String all over Lucius Malfoy and almost got her killed. Now they're grounded." Lily gasped and threw a glare at James's direction, Sirius cracking up.

"James Potter, you prat! It's one thing to get yourself in trouble, to pull Karina into it too? Now that's just plain idiotic!" James's cheeks turned red and he turned away from Lily, Sirius snickering and Karina having to hold back laughter herself. Even though she was in trouble too and missed out on getting a pet and possibly a broom, James was getting yelled at by his crush! And she was going to be an official Marauder! And she got the upperhand over a _Malfoy!_ Today, was a good day


	3. Chapter 3

The last few days of summer holiday went by quickly, and soon Karina found herself walking through King's Cross Station with James, her mother, and her father Alfred Potter, who'd taken pity on her for what she did to Lucius Malfoy and had gotten her a sweet tabby kitten that she named Snilkins.

As they walked, James discussed Marauder nicknames for her.

"James! You are not calling your sister Snitch!" Marie told him sharply.

"Aw, Mum!" He groaned. "It'd only be her Marauder nickname! She's as fast as a Snitch, plus she likes Quidditch! Its perfect!"

"Forget it, Prongs!" Karina told him, laughingly. "Now shut up and find Padfoot, Moony, and Wormtail!" James laughed, then jumped up onto a bench.

"PADFOOT!" he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone. Marie and Alfred covered their ears, and Karina jumped up onto the bench with him and began to shout as well.

"MOONY! WORMTAIL!"

"PRONGS! RINA!" they heard three voices call back. Karina grinned at her brother, and the two of them jumped off of the bench and ran towards the voices.

"PADFOOT! MOONY! WORMTAIL!"

"PRONGS! RINA!"

"PADFOOT! MOONY! WORMTAIL!"

"PRONGS! RINA!" they heard them getting closer and closer.

"PADFOOT! MOONY! WORMTAIL!"

"PRONGS! RINA!"

"Shut _up_ , Sirius!" They heard a furious voice shout. "The whole station can hear you!"

"Sorry, Regulus! But we've got to find James and Karina!" James and Karina saw them and grinned to each other, then snuck up behind them, cupping their hands around their mouths like megaphones again.

"PADFOOT! MOONY! WORMTAIL! REGULUS!" they screamed, and all four boys jumped into the air.

"POTTERS!" Regulus shouted angrily, then stomped off. "KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR YOUR DAMN SELF SIRIUS! I DON'T CARE WHAT MUM SAYS!" But the five Marauders just laughed, watching as a bunch of parents glared at Regulus, rather than them. Then they all hugged each other.

"How was your grounding, mate?" Sirius joked. James just stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground sheepishly.

"Awful and boring. And get this, Rina got a cat!" The other boys looked at the younger girl in shock and she laughed.

"I thought you weren't going to get a pet because of what happened at Diagon Alley?" Remus told her.

"Dad took pity on me and yelled at my big mean brother for bullying his little sister." She said teasingly towards James. Then her smile fell and she dove behind Remus and Peter. "Its Malfoy!" They all looked and sure enough, Lucius Malfoy was down the walkway, talking to Narcissa and Andromeda. Remus reached back and pulled Sirius closer, covering Karina a bit better. James glared at Malfoy.

"Stupid git." He muttered. "Scarin my sister. All because he can't take a stinkin Muggle joke." Remus put his hand on James's shoulder.

"Come on, James. Let's just get on the train. Malfoy's not going to Hogwarts this year, and Narcissa only has two years left and she out of our hair. Plus, she's a sixth year. What's she going to do to a bunch of second years that Weasley hadn't already done last year?"

"Weasley?" Karina asked. James nodded to her.

"Arthur Weasley. He's a third year that's a bit clumsy when it come to magic, but he's really good at Muggle Studies."

"And I'll bet he's got a crush on ole Molly Prewett!" Sirius added, pointing behind them, and they saw Arthur talking to Molly. But Karina could see he wasn't acting like he had a crush. He kept pointing to the newspaper in his hand. "Come on guys! Let's go give em some pointers!" Karina's eye went wide as she watched the four boys head over to them, probably about to embarrass Arthur!

"Guys!" She ran in front of them and held her hands up, being pushed back a little on accident by James and Sirius when her hands came in contact with their chests. "I don't think he's trying to flirt with her! He looks worried, and he keeps pointing to the newspaper." The four boys exchanged looks, then laughed.

"No worries, Rina! We're not going to embarrass ole Weasley in front of Prewett! He'll thank us, trust me!" Karina stomped her foot, standing her ground.

"No! I won't let you! I'll fight you myself if I have to!" Sirius and James exchanged looks, then each took one of her arms and lifted her off the ground! "Hey! Put me down, you gits!"

"Here, take this for us, will you Moony?" James asked Remus jokingly. Remus sighed, but he took Karina around the middle and threw her over his shoulder fireman style!

"Moony! Put me down!" She shouted, beating on his back.

"Hey, take it easy back there, why don't you?" Remus told her. "My back already gets pretty sore. Don't need you beating on it!" Karina groaned and looked to Peter, who looked unsure as they kept walking towards Arthur and Molly.

"Wormy, please help me down." She begged, reaching both arms out to him.

"Don't let her down, Wormtail." James called, and Karina groaned again. Then she heard him say, "Hey, Weasley! What's up?"

"Oh! Hello!" Said Weasley, a little unsure on why the Marauders were speaking to him and why Remus had a young girl slung over his shoulder. "How're you all?"

"Doing alright? How's you and Molly here?" James asked.

"Oh, we're doing fine, aren't we, Molly?" Molly nodded, a little concerned for Remus, who looked pained. "Remus, who are you carrying there?" Karina then felt herself being lowered onto the the ground at last, and stood before the redheaded boy and girl. They could've been siblings.

"This is Karina. She's James's little sister." Arthur held out his hand to her and they shook.

"Nice to meet you there, Karina. Arthur Weasley, pleasure to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too!" Remus, however was paying attention to what Arthur had in his other hand.

"Five Dark Marks seen in the past two weeks?" Arthur nodded. "Who's all been killed?" Karina felt dread fill her body.

"What marks? Who's being killed?" But Arthur ignored her.

"The Spindleshanks, Gertle Redwood, Evelyn Teaners, and two Muggle families." The Marauders' faces all paled, but Karina didn't know what Arthur was talking about. "Mrs. Spindleshanks was a Muggle, Ms. Redwood turned out to be Muggle born, and Professor Teaners was a halfblood." James shook his head, all the jokiness out of his face.

"Its a shame, really. Professor Teaners made a really good Defense Against of the Dark Art professor last year."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Karina asked. "Does it have something to do with those Death Eaters you and Mum and Dad are always talking about?" James looked to Remus, and Remus nodded, leading them away from Arthur, Molly, Sirius, and Peter.

"Karina, this isn't easy for me to explain, so I'm going to do my best, okay?" James said slowly. Karina nodded. "And Remus is here to help me, because he's a bit better at these things than I am. But, the Death Eaters, their leader is... Is..." He looked to Remus, who sighed.

"He is a Dark wizard. So Dark, we don't even say his name, out of sheer fear. We only call him You-Know-Who." Karina looked between the boys, and could see they weren't kidding.

"Do you know his name?" She asked them. They nodded.

"He's called..." James looked around, then came in close to her ear. _"Voldemort."_ Remus winced and Karina gasped. "And he's been trying to get rid of anything to do with Muggles and wizards. He thinks we should be on top, that wizards shouldn't correspond with Muggles, but that didn't happen. So he's going around and taking out any wizard or witch having to do with Muggles. Even distantly related to Muggles, he'll take you down." Karina felt a little lightheaded. "And every time he kills someone, he leaves the Dark Mark floating over them, to put fear into peoples' hearts."

"And it clearly works quite well." They heard a voice say, and turned to see Malfoy standing there! He smiled evilly at Karina. "Hello, wretch." She gasped, then ran as fast as she could, weaving through people as graceful as a dancer and as fast as a Snitch.

"Karina!" She heard James yell, but she kept running, her eyes swimming with tears, her head swimming with thoughts. Death Eaters, Dark Marks, Malfoy, You-Know-Who... It drove her mad!  
She ran until she saw her parents, and dove straight for her mother and gave her a hug, crying into her coat. Marie patted her back, hugging her daughter back.

"Sweetheart, its alright. What's wrong?"

"Goodness! All these tears! And just for us putting up your trolleys for you!" Her father joked, but Karina still sobbed.

"J-James, told me about Y-You-Kn-Kn-Kn-"

"You-Know-Who?" Alfred asked her, his smile replaced with a frown. As Head Auror, he tried to keep up to tab with the Dark Lord. Karina nodded, a fresh round of tears coming on. She didn't know why she was crying, but she was. "James!" Karina saw her brother and Remus run over.

"We told you not to tell her about him! Not until she was older!"

"Dad, we had to tell her! Weasley was lookin at the paper and freakin her out! We had to explain to her, or else she'd be even more scared because she didn't know!"

"Well, you shouldn't have brought her over to Weasley!" Then the train whistled. "You two better go."

"But-" Karina was scared to go to Hogwarts now.

"Don't worry." Her mother told her. "You-Know-Who fears Dumbledore above anyone else. You'll be safe there." Then she kissed Karina's forehead, and gave both of her children a hug and small shove towards the train.

As soon as they got on the train and found a compartment with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, James gave Karina's hair a small tousle.

"I think I thought of your nickname, Karina. When you ran, you moved like you were dancing."

"What's that got to do with it?" She asked him.

"Because your nickname, is Foxtrot. Welcome to the Marauders, Foxtrot."


	4. Chapter 4

Foxtrot Potter. Foxtrot Potter. That was her! She was a Marauder!

When they got off the train, Karina heard a loud voice calling the first years to the boats. As much as she hated to leave the boys, she knew that she had to be Sorted, which scared her a little. If Karina wasn't Sorted into Gryffindor, that could make her lose her right as a Marauder! Well, she hoped it wouldn't. After all, Remus was sure he was going into Ravenclaw because he was all booksmart, Sirius thought he was going into Slytherin because he was a Black, and Peter thought he was going into Hufflepuff because... Well, he's Peter. They all told her on the train.  
When thegy got inside the school, Karina felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned and saw a black haired girl with emerald green eyes and pale skin. She smiled at Karina.

"Hello." She said, sounding sly. "I'm Pamela Detris. What's your name?"

"I'm Karina Potter." Karina said, putting her guard up a little. She didn't seem like a good person to be around.

She raised her eyebrows at Karina. "A Potter? I've heard about your brother, James then. My friend, Patrick Parkinson,who's a second year, told me that he's a complete git who annoys everyone." Karina's jaw dropped.

"That is not true! My brother is very popular, and people like him!" Pamela crossed her arms.  
"So what house do you think you're going to be in? I'll bet its Hufflepuff." Karina glared at her, crossing _her_ arms. If she wanted to be in Gryffindor, then she had to be brave.

"Gryffindor, where bravery dwells in the heart." She snarled. Pamela laughed.

"Good luck with that, Potter." She said. "Only the brave people get in there. What can you do?"  
That was when the doors opened, and a woman in green robes led them into the Great Hall, where Karina stared at the high ceilings, if you could say there were ceilings! The roof just seemed to open up into the night sky.

She stood in line, waiting for her turn to be Sorted.

"Detris, Pamela!" The professor called, whom Karina recognized as Professor McGonagall from James's description. Karina watched as Pamela climbed up onto a stool and McGonagall lowered the infamous Sorting Hat onto her head.

"SLYTHERIN!" It called at once, and Pamela smiled slyly as she walked over to the Slytherin table and high fived Patrick Parkinson. Karina looked away, trying to focus on the Sorting. She saw James and the others out of the corner of her eye and they gave her thumbs up, looking encouraging. Even Lily Evans was mouthing "good luck."

"Potter, Karina!" McGonagall called to her, and all Karina could hear behind her were James and Sirius whooping and hollering, Remus trying to shush them, and Peter giving small cheers. She didn't face them. She knew that she would laugh and it might ruin things. She could already feel her cheeks getting warm and she had to hold back a smile as she sat on the stool.

"Hmm, very interesting. Another Potter. A smart mind, no doubt, and bravery dwells in her heart. And what is this, but a hint of mischief. A cunning trait like that would make a nice addition to Slytherin." Karina gasped, and then squeezed her eyes tight, gripping the stool. _Not_

 _Slytherin. Please , not Slytherin! James would never speak to me again if I was put in Slytherin!  
_  
"Not Slytherin, hm? Would rather go down the path of your brother, would you? Even though a mind such as your's could go to Ravenclaw as well." Karina held her breath. "No? Then... GRYFFINDOR!" Karina's whole face lit up as Professor McGonagall pulled the hat off of her, beaming and she dashed over to James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, who were cheering louder than anyone in the Great Hall.

That night, the prefects led them all up to the Gryffindor common room and explained the dormitories. Karina went straight for her dorm with three other girls. Their names were Alice Rectum, Evelyn O'Connor, and Rachel Finch. They all seemed like pretty interesting girls.  
As she dozed off that night in bed, she heard someone knocking on the door. She sat up and checked to make sure that none of the other girls had woken up. Then she went to the door, and found James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter standing there, grinning like fools.

"Guys, its late." She muttered, rubbing her eyes. "Go to bed." But James took her hand and pulled her out of the room and dragged her back down to the common room.

"C'mon! We're just going to have a bit of fun! We convinced some of the house elves from dinner to smuggle us up some food and a bottle of butterbeer!"

"But we're not allowed to drink butterbeer, are we?" Karina whispered nervously. James shrugged.

"I know that there are third years who drink it, so I think we're safe with a cup each." Then he pulled her down, and Karina looked around the common room with awe. It was amazing! There were orange and red balloons floating about, a table covered in sweets and a bottle of butterbeer, and a huge banner with a fox on it, decorate like the Gryffindor banner, and it read

"Welcome to Gryffindor Foxtrot!" She turned to her brother and friends, a huge grin on her face.

"Guys! This is amazing!" They all chuckled and came over to her.

"Hey, you're an official Marauder now. You deserve this." Remus told her.  
"Welcome to Gryffindor, Foxtrot!" James cheered and Karina laughed. Hogwarts was going to be great!

(I feel like this chapter could have been better. And as a little Easter egg, I'm attempting at making all the characters relate to those in the future! Some will be easier than others, as you can see, but I am excited to see if you guys get any of them!  
Also, if you don't know, I'm currently also writing a Harry Potter crossover of the game, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch! I'm sure many of you haven't heard of that game, but I'm convinced in the awesomeness of the book! Until Next Slime!)  
p style="text-align: center;" data-p-id="73a14af5b442bd3631582c65eee86f93""I know that there are third years who drink it, so I think we're safe with a cup each." Then he pulled her down, and Karina looked around the common room with awe. It was amazing! There were orange and red balloons floating about, a table covered in sweets and a bottle of butterbeer, and a huge banner with a fox on it, decorate like the Gryffindor banner, and it read br /br /"Welcome to Gryffindor Foxtrot!" She turned to her brother and friends, a huge grin on her face. br /br /"Guys! This is amazing!" They all chuckled and came over to /br /"Hey, you're an official Marauder now. You deserve this." Remus told /"Welcome to Gryffindor, Foxtrot!" James cheered and Karina laughed. Hogwarts was going to be great!/p  
p style="text-align: center;" data-p-id="4a4af1304450c53133a87674abc946d3"(I feel like this chapter could have been better. And as a little Easter egg, I'm attempting at making all the characters relate to those in the future! Some will be easier than others, as you can see, but I am excited to see if you guys get any of them! br /Also, if you don't know, I'm currently also writing a Harry Potter crossover of the game, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch! I'm sure many of you haven't heard of that game, but I'm convinced in the awesomeness of the book! Until Next Slime!)/p


	5. Chapter 5

As the first few days went by, Karina started getting used to Hogwarts. It was definitely hard at first. The staircases moved, and Peeves kept bugging her and the other students. Although, most of her classes were easy and Sir Nicholas the Gryffindor ghost was always happy to show first years the way to their classes. She just wished that some of the Marauders were in her classes, but they were all a year ahead of her. But they did help her study.

James excelled at Transfiguration, Peter did well in Herbology, Sirius was, well, a wizard with Defense of the Dark Arts, and Remus was the only one who could stay awake in History of Magic. Even Lily Evans helped her out with Charms, much to James's excitement. Remus once told Karina that he had never seen James so excited to see Charms homework now that Lily helped her.

But the one subject she struggled in most was Potions. Professor Slughorn was a good teacher, and he tried to help her out as much as he could, but she just couldn't reach his standards. Not that she didn't try! She studied every book she could on Potions, even a few in the Restricted Section, with explicit permission from Slughorn of course. But there was just something that didn't click with her in Potions. Until one day.

It was a rainy Saturday, and she was in the common room, trying to do her Potions homework. But James had nicked a Snitch from Madam Hooch and he and Sirius were chasing it around the common room. Peter was watching them excitedly, and Remus was studying for his Muggle Studies test.

"Will you two please stop!" Karina finally told them as James tackled Sirius to the ground trying to get the Snitch. "Some of us have homework to do so that they don't fail their final exams at the end of the year!" James scoffed.

"Oh relax, Foxtrot! The final exams are ages away! You'll be fine!"

"Got it!" Sirius shouted, and jumped back into an end table. Karina groaned, then took her books and went to the library where it was quiet. But even the quiet didn't change the fact that she couldn't remember where a bezoar came from. She groaned and laid her head on the table.

"Karina? Are you alright?" She heard a sullen voice say. She looked up, and saw that black haired boy from Ollivander's. She nodded at him.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Severus, right?" He nodded, then looked at her paper. "Oh, that's just my Potions homework."

"Struggling a little, are we?" He asked, and she nodded. "I can help you, if you'd like. I've got the highest marks for Potions. Can even make a few of my own, if I wanted to." Karina nodded.

"Yes, please! James and Sirius hate Potions, Peter's no good, and Remus struggles a little as well!"

"What about Lily Evans?" Severus asked, as he sat down next to her. "I know she's been helping you in Charms quite a bit." Karina nodded.

"Yeah, but James is always ogling at her while she helps me, so she tries to avoid it if she can." Severus chuckled a little as he examined the parchment.

"Well, Lily is my friend, so I can't say anything bad about her. But I'd tell Potter to budge off if it were me. No offense." Karina shook her head.

"None taken. I love James, and the rest of them too, but sometimes he and Sirius can be right ole gits! And Peter just eggs them on because he doesn't have any other friends." Severus chuckled again.

"Well, enough about them. Why don't we focus on this?" Karina nodded again, then they began.

Severus really helped her. He gave her helpful tips and tricks to remember things she needed to know, and taught her a few things too that could make some of her potions better.

Just as they were packing their things, homework all done, the Marauders came thumping in. And they were shocked to see Severus with Karina.

"Hey, Snivelleus!" James called, stomping over. "Get away from my sister!" Karina stuck herself between Severus and James.

"Oh, James stop it! _Severus_ was just helping me with my Potions homework!" Severus nodded, backing up.

"Yeah, Potter. I wasn't going to hurt her." James glared at Severus.

"Just keep away from her. I don't need my kid sister being turned into a Death Eater!"  
"James!"

"Sh!" Called the librarian, and James took Karina by the hand and dragged her towards the door. She had just enough time to see Sirius punch Severus right in the stomach! Severus went down like a sack of potatoes, and she mouthed "sorry" to him as James dragged her out of the library.

When they got back to the common room, Karina pulled way of James and stomped her foot at him.

"James! That was uncalled for! That was just plain mean!" James looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Rina, that was Snivelleus! I don't need you running around with him and his little Death Eater friends!"

"He was tutoring me in Potions!"

"We don't talk to Snivelleus Snape!"

"Potter, that's enough!" Karina turned around and saw Lily Evans coming in. "Severus has never done a single thing to you and you boys treat him like rubbish!"

"He was messing around with Foxtrot, Evans!" Sirius shouted as he helped Remus pull Peter out of the portrait hole, where he was stuck.

"He was helping me!" Karina shouted, hating feeling as small as she did now. "Its not like you or James will!"

"We help you all the time!"

"Not with Potions!" Then she pushed past James, shoved Sirius out of the way, and pulled Peter and Remus out of the portrait hole and stomped out of the common room.

"Where're you going?" James called, exasperated.

"Anywhere else." She grouched.


	6. Chapter 6

Karina and James soon made up, but that didn't stop her from becoming friends with Severus, who really did help her with Potions. Professor Slughorn had even told her she was getting an 'O' on her last exam, much to her excitement.

But now, Halloween was approaching in a month, and the Marauders were very busy. They had a lot of pranks they were planning on playing on the other students. They had a ton planned, and Karina was happy to help.

"What if we got a Metamorphagus to turn into Dumbledore and freak people out?" She told them one afternoon in the Great Hall. Sirius nodded.

"Oh that'd be brilliant!" James nodded too, but frowned.

"But where are we going to find a Metamorphagus in time?" Karina groaned.

"Oh, right! Dammit!" Then she looked to Remus. "Remus, have you got any ideas?" Remus looked up from where he staring at the ground.

"Huh?" He asked. "Oh, uh, no. I don't have any ideas."

"You alright there, Moony? You don't look so good." Remus was pale except for his cheeks, which were flushed red, and he was sweating bad. He also kept looking out at the window nervously.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm alright." Then he stood, wobbling a little. "Listen, I've got to go. I'll, see you guys later." Then he stumbled out of the corridor, and Karina, Peter, Sirius, and James exchanged looks. What was going on with him?

"Its always around the time of the full moon. I've noticed that." Karina said later when they were relaxing the common room before curfew.

"What is?" James asked, catching his Snitch out of midair.

"When Moony gets this way. He did it when he was over at our house during the summer, and he's done it twice this school year."

"Well, that's why we call him Moony." Sirius told her from where he was idly watching the fire. "Because he seems to base things around the moon."

"Why do we call you Padfoot then?" Peter asked, having forgotten. James jumped up.

"Remus told me this one! Because Sirius means Dog Star in the constellation Canis Major, while Canis is Latin for dog. Since dogs have padded feet, we call him Padfoot!" Karina furrowed her eyebrows, while Sirius's cheeks turned pink.

"Yeah, well, Remus's name means Wolf Wolf!"

"Hush, Woof Woof." James told him, then lay back down on the couch. Karina groaned.

"Guys, honestly, we have to find out what's wrong with Remus. I'm worried about him." That was when two third years, Drake Aster and Riley Carter, came stumbling in, giggling. "What are you two so hyped up about?"

"The ghosts are at it again!" Riley told her. Karina groaned again.

"Oh man, what's Peeves done to Moaning Myrtle this time?" Drake shook his head.

"No, not the ghosts here! The ones at the Shrieking Shack! They're up again and howling!" James jumped up again.

"They're at it again! Finally!" Then he looked to Sirius, Peter, and Karina. "Now we can finally catch em and see why they're howling!" Karina stood.

"James, don't you find it a tiny bit coincidental that there's howling going on at the Shrieking Shack at the same time as Remus disappearing?"

"What if the ghosts have Remus trapped there?" Peter whimpered, and James scoffed.

"Please! Moony wouldn't get kidnapped by ghosts! Look, tomorrow's Saturday, so we'll have a bit of free time! I brought my Invisibility Cloak, so we can sneak off to the Shrieking Shack then!"

"But what about Moony?" Sirius asked. James just shrugged.

"He'll be fine! He always comes back when he goes off like this!"

"James Potter, that's truly inconsiderate!" They all heard Lily say as she came in. "Lupin is supposed to be one of your best friends, and yet you don't even wonder where he goes?" James shrugged.

"Well of course I wonder, Evans! He's my friend, what do you think? But Remus wouldn't do anything stupid! Unlike you and Karina for being friends with Snivelleus!"

"James! That's enough!" Karina told him. "Us being friends with _Severus_ has nothing to do with you being an awful friend to Remus and worrying more about going off to find some ghosts!" Sirius came over and stood between the siblings.

"Okay, guys. Come on now, let's calm down. Look, we can't do anything until morning anyway, so why don't we just head to bed and we'll look for Prongs's ghosts, then we'll find Moony. I only say that because Moony might not want to be found." Lily and Karina crossed their arms, but nodded.

"Fine! But don't think that I'll let this slide, James!" Then she went to her dorm and slipped into bed, listening to a wolf howl somewhere in the distance.

"Where are you, Moony?" She whispered, burying herself deeper under the covers. "Where are you?"

p style="text-align: center;" /p


	7. Chapter 7

It turned out that they weren't able to get to the Shrieking Shack until the next week, and Remus still didn't show up. But when they finally got the chance to sneak out, Karina couldn't stop quivering underneath of the Invisibility Cloak.

"What if we get caught?" She whispered. James sighed.

"Foxtrot, for the hundredth time, we're not going to get caught! And besides, we're going on a learning trip." Karina furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"A learning trip, huh?" Both James and Sirius nodded.

"Yeah, we're going to learn the history of these ghosts and learn why they howl so much!" Sirius told her. "Right, Wormtail?" Peter nodded.

"Yeah, right." Karina rolled her eyes, but the four of them kept going until they reached the village of Hogsmeade and ran to the outskirts, where they found the Shrieking Shack surrounded by a barbed fence. The four threw the Invisibility Cloak off and James stuffed it under his robes. From the Shack, they didn't hear anything.

"I hear that they only come out at night." James told them. "I asked McGonagall about them yesterday, and she said that." Sirius slipped through the barbed wire and grinned at the others.

"Well, come on then! Let's go see them!" James followed him eagerly, followed by Peter, and lastly an eye rolling Karina. As they entered the Shack, much of their confidence melted away, when they saw a shivering bundle of gray rags lying in the corner. James put his fingers to his lips, then looked to Peter.

"Peter, go take a closer look." He hissed. Peter's cheeks turned pink in the dark light, but he obeyed and crept over to the bundle. When he got around it, he gasped.

"Remus!" James, Sirius, and Karina looked to each other, then ran over and pulled the rags away, revealing that it was Remus underneath! And he looked awful! His brown hair was a mess and he was paler than the moon. He looked sick.

"Moony! What happened to you?" Karina exclaimed, getting on her knees and helping Remus sit up, James handing her the Invisibility Cloak and her wrapping Remus in it, careful not to cover his head so that they could still see him.

Remus shrugged. "N-Nothing. Don't w-worry about it."

"Nothing!?" Sirius shouted, sitting down, followed by James and Peter. "Mate, you look like he got attacked!"

"Did something attack you?" James asked, his fists clenched. Remus shook his head.

"N-Not exactly." Then Peter tugged on Karina's sleeve.

"K-K-Karina?" He whimpered. Karina sighed and looked to him.

"What is it, Peter?" He pointed, and she looked to see a rabbit. Or what was left of one anyway. The whole head had been torn off and the chest had been ripped open, leaving only skin and bone with innards coming out of the bottom, a foot gone and the other torn in half.

"Merlin's beard." She whispered, falling back off of her knees. "Remus... Did you do that?" Remus nodded, burying his face into his invisible lap. "But... How?" Sirius went over to the rabbit.

"This looks like the work of a werewolf." He muttered, examining the carcass. Then he looked back at Remus. "Remus... Are you a werewolf?" Remus didn't say anything, but the visible part of his head nodded, and all the Marauders exchanged looks. Then they all sat around him in silence for a little while, until finally, Remus stood.

"Let's just get back to Hogwarts."

"Okay." James told him, and they arranged the Invisibility Cloak around the five of them, James, Sirius, and Remus having to crouch a little so their sneakers wouldn't show as they walked through Hogsmeade. Peter and Karina were both still short enough that they just had to squeeze in.

When they got back to Hogwarts, they crowded into the Gryffindor common room, relieved to find it empty. They took off the cloak and Remus started up the stairs.

"Where're you off to, Moony?" James asked him, confused. Remus turned around, looking sullen.

"Well, you lot are going to turn me, aren't you? Get me expelled?"

"Now why would we do that?" Sirius asked him.

"Because I'm a monster." Remus told him, and he scoffed.

"Yeah, Remus. You fold your socks. Pardon me if I don't run away in fear!" Remus furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"I'm a werewolf. Aren't you going to get me expelled?" Karina shook her head, sitting backwards on the couch to face him.

"Of course not, Moony. You're one of us! And there's nothing you can say that'll change that! And now that we know, we can help you through each time!" Remus slowly came back down the stairs.

"So... You lot don't think I'm a monster?" Karina shook her head again.

"Of course not. We're all a little different." Then she held out her arms. "You see this arm? Its actually shorter than my other arm! But you can't really tell. Especially when I shake them like this!" Then she waved her hands around crazily, making Remus smile.

"I'm lactose and tolerant." Peter said softly.

"My feet are so big, Mum buys me the biggest shoes she can and enlarges them!" James added, making Remus chuckle.

"I'm obnoxious!" Sirius shouted, making them all laugh. Wen they finally settled down, Remus sat on the couch next to Karina.

"Thanks you lot. I don't know what'd I do without you."

"Probably still at the Shrieking Shack." James told him. "How'd you get there anyway without any of the teachers finding out?"

"I dug a secret passageway by the Whomping Willow." He explained. "It leads directly to the shack. I go there so that I don't end up hurting anyone." Karina crawled behind him and hugged him around his neck gently.

"Well, now we'll help you! Maybe when the full moon comes out, we can go with you to the shack!" Remus shook his head.

"I appreciate it, Rina, but I'd probably end up hurting you lot! Its a little hard to control myself when I go wolf." James sat on his other side and patted his shoulder.

"We'll figure something out, Moony! We always do!" Then they all began to think.

(Let me explain now, that I didn't know the process of how to become an Animagus before, I do now, but I see no point in changing the chapter now. Just to clarify. Until next Slime!)


	8. Chapter 8

While the other Marauders gave up on trying to figure out a way to help Remus while he was a werewolf, Karina went searching. She was determined to help him, but Halloween was coming up, and they had a few pranks to pull.

First, they set a charm on Flitwick's chair so that when he sat in it, it go "pop pop pop!" Like fireworks, so that he would go shooting off all over the classroom, maybe even all over the school.

For Trelawney, they covered all of her pink poufs with blue dye, and switched out her glasses for googly glasses that made your vision all weird. (Like drunk goggles!)

For Slughorn, they gave him a Love Potion that would only last a few hours, but they made sure that there were pictures of Severus Snape everywhere.

"That old cushion loves Snivelleus so much, might as well marry em!" James remarked as he stuck a picture of Severus right on the bottle of the potion.

Karina didn't participate in that one. "Severus is my friend, and I won't betray him like that!" She said. But she was the one who figured out to transfigure Peeves into McGonagall's chair so that when she sat in it, it would transfigure back, and Peeves would wreak the havoc he so craved, as well transfiguring her desk into a pig that ran around the classroom.

They even hid all of Professor Binns, the History of Magic teacher's, textbooks so that he couldn't teach class and ground all of his chalk to dust.

"This oughta liven the ole ghost's class up!" Sirius said, making Karina laugh.

They created all sorts of pranks, each to match that particular professor's class. Madam Hooch got a crazy broom, Professor Grubbly-Plank got a Blast-Ended Skrewt running around her indoor classroom, Professor Sprout got a bunch of screaming Mandrakes, plus a pair of fluffy pink earmuffs that had a note on them that said, "you might need these.", even Dumbledore got candies that made steam come out of his ears and made him sound like a train in a bag by the statue that led to his office. But they had one teacher left. The new Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Welkins.

"We can't pull a dark arts prank on him!" Peter had reminded them, so they just got Welkins a quill that squirted ink everywhere when he tried to write.

The next day, Karina sat in McGonagall's classroom, waiting for the professor to sit down on Peeves the chair. Finally, McGonagall passed out some parchment.

"I would like you all to begin writing an essay on the importance of thinking very clearly when transfiguring." She explained, then went to sit in her chair, that immediately turned into Peeves! "Oh my!" She exclaimed, falling through Peeves and landing on the floor.

"Hehehehehehehehehe!" Peeves cackled, sticking his tongue out at McGonagall, causing the class to roar with laughter. "Did ole Peevesy scare you, Minnie?"

"Peeves!" McGonagall shouted, standing up. "Out of my classroom! Or else I'll get the Bloody Baron in here!" Peeves cackled again, then zoomed out, the class still laughing. "Class! Hush now! Hush!" McGonagall called, tapping her desk, making it turn into a pig! The class was in an uproar, and Karina felt proud of herself.

"MINERVA!" They suddenly heard someone screaming, and McGonagall looked out into the hall to see Flitwick zooming off in his chair, being chased by his class with Remus and James in the front.

"Filius! Hang on!" McGonagall quickly dashed out after him, her class following her. Karina ran over to Remus and James.

"Where are Padfoot and Wormtail?" She asked them, just as they heard shouting from down the hall.

"Professor Slughorn, please! That was a love potion!" Severus!

"Come back, my student!" Slughorn came racing down the hall in hot pursuit of Severus, who was running as fast as he could.

"Professor, listen to yourself!" Uh oh.

"Its Evans!" James exclaimed, fixing his hair as the redheaded girl ran by, stopping for a moment to glare at them.

"I'd bet my wand that you were behind this, Potter!" She spluttered at James. "You too, Lupin!" Then she ran after Slughorn and Severus.

"MR. BLACK!" They heard screeching, and saw Sirius come running up.

"Quick! Hide me!" He exclaimed, diving behind his friend! "Grubbly-Plank is after me! She found out it was us who put the Skrewt in her office!"

"DETENTION!" she screeched. "DETENTION FOR A WEEK! FOR A MONTH! FOR A _YEAR_ _!"_ Without further questioning, James, Remus, and Karina stood shoulder to shoulder and hid Sirius behind them, just as Grubbly-Plank came running up. "Where is he!?" She demanded, then looked at James, Remus, and Karina. "I know that it was you four! You blasted four and Pettigrew!"

"Hey, where is Wormtail anyway?" Karina asked, just as someone flew by the window on a crazy broom.

"DOWN! DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN!" Peter! They ran to the window, and saw Peter had gotten on the crazy broom by mistake!

"POTTERS!" McGonagall exclaimed, exasperated by all the chaos. "LUPIN! BLACK! PETTIGREW! DETENTION! THREE WEEKS!" James and Sirius couldn't keep it in, and began to laugh at their teachers' distress, just Alice Rectum came running in, wearing earmuffs.

"Professor McGonagall! Come quick! Professor Sprout has fainted from Mandrakes! They're all over the greenhouses!"

"MAKE THAT FOUR WEEKS!" McGonagall shouted, Welkins coming in with ink dripping from his face. James, Sirius, Karina, and Remus exchanged looks, then ran as fast as their legs could carry them, McGonagall shouting behind them, but they laughed.

"Best Halloween ever!" James exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air as he ran, until they heard a train noise and laughter.

"Its Dumbledore!" Remus hissed, and they looked around the corner before running by him. They saw he was eating the candies that made steam come out of his ears and was laughing as it did.

"At least somebody liked our pranks." Sirius whispered, then they kept running, still needing to hide from all the other teachers.


	9. Chapter 9

"I think I've found it!" Karina shouted one day, running into the common room, waving a book around. "I've finally found it!" James and Sirius looked up from their Transfiguration homework and Remus looked up from where he was tutoring Peter in Charms.

"What did you find, Rina?" She set a book down on the desk.

"Animaguses! Prongs, you, me, Wormtail, and Padfoot can turn into Animaguses!" James looked around his textbook.

"What in the name of Merlin is an Animagus?" He asked her. She groaned and ran her hands through her hair. She'd done that since she was little and was always trying to copy him. Now it was habit whenever he drove her crazy.

"An Animagus is a person who can form into an animal at will. We can turn into animals so that when Remus goes wolf, we can be there for him!" Remus looked up from his book.

"Rina, for one thing, its dangerous. I could go wolf and not be able to control myself. Another thing, I've heard that changing into an Animagus takes years and years of practice. Lastly, we can't do it today." Karina tilted her head.

"Why can't we do it?" James threw his homework down and stood to his feet, grinning.

"First Quidditch game of the season! And Padfoot and I are playing!" He looked to the clock over the mantle. "We actually have to get going! Come on, Sirius!" Sirius jumped up and they ran to get ready. Remus stood up as well.

"I have to go, too. I'm commentating." As he passed Karina, he ruffled her hair, making it go in her face. "Hang in there, Foxtrot. I'll be fine." Karina fixed her hair and crossed her arms, Peter coming up behind her.

"Wanna head down to the field and get good seats? We can see if we can get seats by the commentating booth."

"You go on ahead." Karina told him. "Save me a seat. I have to go the library first."

 **MARAUDERS**

"I wouldn't know why a student such as yourself needs this, but here you are, Miss Potter." Said the librarian as she handed Karina a slip of paper. "One permission slip for the Restricted Section. Be sure to get it signed." Karina nodded.

"I will, thank you." Then she hurried off to McGonagall's classroom, where she found the professor buttoning up her coat.

"Professor? I was wondering if you knew anything about Animaguses. Like, how to become one and how long exactly." McGonagall shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Miss Potter, but I am unable to tell you." Karina crumbled a little inside. "Though, I am also unable to tell you that there is a book on how to become one in the Restricted Section." Karina grinned and lay her permission slip on the desk. "I am also unable to tell you that the third floor corridor will be empty every Saturday evening, on account of Mr. Filch going into town." Karina nodded, looking at the title of the book, and seeing that McGonagall had recommended a book.

"Of course, Professor." Then she hurried to the library to find the book, _Animagus_ _Amazement_ _._ She ran up and down the sections until she found the book, and hurried up to the third floor corridor, where she began to read it, finding out that it could take years and years of practice before becoming an Animagus. She also learned that you couldn't choose what animal you got to turn into. Big bummer, but it wouldn't matter, as long as it helped Remus!  
That was when she heard yelling downstairs, and hurried down, hugging the book closely. She had to get to the Quidditch game!

 **MARAUDERS**

She reached the field and scooted along in the stands until she found Peter sitting next to the commentators box where Remus sat.

"Hello, Quidditch fans!" Remus called to the crowd. "And welcome to the first Quidditch game of the season! This round: Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor!" The crowd gave a loud cheer, but Karina was distracted.

"And a good start off already as Beater Black shoots a bludger right at Chaser Ethers, who drops the Quaffle..." Karina looked up at that, just in time to see the bludger that Sirius had shot hit a Ravenclaw Chaser good and hard.

"Yeah! Get em, Padfoot!" Karina shouted, as the Gryffindor Chaser snatched up the Quaffle and scored. Sirius gave her a salute before returning to the game. Then Karina went back to _Animagus_ _Amazement_ _._

" _To_ _turn_ _into_ _an_ _Animagus,_ _you_ _must_ _say_ _this_ _word_ _._ _Animaho_ _Selfine_ _."_ The book said.

"Animaho Selfine." Karina whispered, then nearly jumped out of her seat as her hand turned into a paw! It changed back, thankfully, but it made her smile. She already had the hang of this.

"And there goes Potter and Weevil, chasing after the Snitch!" Remus called, and Karina looked up again to see James in pursuit of the Snitch! She stood up.

"Come on, James!" She shouted. Peter stood and began to shout as well.

"Weevil's nearly got it - Potter's catching up - Ethers, get out of the way! - Ravenclaw Chaser Rets makes a shot - come on James - And the Gryffindor seeker has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!" Cheers erupted from the Gryffindors.

"Good job, James!" Karina shouted as her brother hung in the air, holding the Snitch.

"Great job, Sirius!" She heard someone else call, and she recognized the voice. She looked down the stands, and saw Sirius's brother, Regulus. He was cheering for his brother, the Gryffindor Black, and he was a Slytherin, Sirius's parents' star kid. And yet here he was, cheering for Sirius, the kid that the Blacks hated.

After the game, Karina ran up to Regulus.

"Hey, Regulus. I saw you at the game." Regulus shrugged fixing his green tie.

"What about it?" He asked. "I got bored." Karina knew he was lying. She smiled at him.

"I'm going to tell Sirius, because he should know that his brother does love him." Regulus grunted, but he didn't say anything as Karina ran back to find Sirius.


	10. Chapter 10

"Rina, you're joking." Sirius told her. "Regulus is my parents' favourite kid. He wouldn't come to see one of my Quidditch games." Karina put one hand on her hip and the other she ran through her hair.

"Yes, he did! I saw him! And when James made the catch, he wasn't cheering for James! He was cheering for you! You've to believe me!" Sirius crossed his own arms and turned away.

"Well, why should he be at my game? I mean-"

"No, enough!" She told him. "Your brother loves you. Deal with it, darn it!" This made James snicker, which got Remus going, then Peter started giggling, and Karina snorted. Even Sirius's lips twitched, before curling up into a smile and he began to laugh.

Later, Karina dragged James, Sirius, and Peter upstairs to the third floor corridor, where they began to work on becoming Animaguses.

"Animaho Selfine!" James chanted, pointing his wand at himself. Immediately, two antlers popped out of his head! James gave a yell, and Peter, Karina, and Sirius laughed.

"Now we know why we call you Prongs!" Sirius told him.

"Animaho Selfine!" Peter tried, and then he squeaked, a long tail growing from his bum!

"Animaho Selfine." Sirius said slowly without his wand, and he changed all the way into a dog! A scruffy black dog, for just a second, then he changed back to normal. Sirius shook his hair out, his eyes wide.

"Whoa! That was a rush!" He exclaimed. Karina set down her wand and took a deep breath.

"Animaho Selfine." She said slowly, and she felt herself shrink! Her hands turned into little paws like before and she felt ears grow from her head, her own human ears going away. A long, furry tale came from her bum and her nose changed into a little black on. She gave a small squeak and swished her tail, noticing her snowy white fur. She was a snow fox! James, Sirius, and Peter looked at her in amazement.

"Wow." Peter breathed.

"Foxtrot, you look... Amazing!" James exclaimed. Karina grinned with her fox mouth, then tried to think of the counter spell.

 _Humanus_ _Selfine_ _._ And she was back to her small, gangly self.

"That was so cool!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Come on, you two!" She told James and Peter. "Catch up, will you?" James put his wand down and took a deep breath.

"Animaho Selfine!" He tried, and his hands and feet changed to hooves and antlers grew again! But he wasn't a full animal. He yelled again, and he changed back.

"James, you've got to stay calm." Karina told him. "Go slowly." James took another deep breath.

"Alright. Here goes nothing." He said. "Animaaaaagh!" He suddenly screamed and jumped up onto Karina, knocking her back, both of them falling on the ground. She groaned.

"James, what was that for?" He pointed.

"I saw a rat!" Karina's eyes went wide and she jumped up, seeing the rat. She hated rats.

"Kill it!" She screamed. "Kill it with fire!" She grabbed her wand, but Sirius stopped her.

"Rina, wait! That's Peter!" She looked to Sirius, then back at the rat, then to Sirius, then again at the rat.

"Are you serious?" She asked. Sirius grinned.

"Of course I'm Sirius. And yes, that's actually Wormtail." The rat squeaked desperately, and Karina realised that Peter was stuck as a rat.

"P-Peter." She stuttered. "Just think the words Humanus Selfine, and you'll change back." The rat nodded, and Karina nearly fainted as it turned into Peter, who was panting.

"Thanks, Rina. Sorry for scaring you." Karina sighed.

"Its alright. I'm just going to have to get used it, I suppose."

They stayed upstairs for hours, perfecting the changes. It took James fifteen more times before he was able to change into a full deer, then he had problems trying to go back to being human. Karina eventually had to turn him back for him, since Filch was going to be back soon and they would get detention.

"We'll work on it more and surprise Remus on Christmas." Karina whispered to them as they entered the common room. The other three nodded.

"Hey, where were you lot?" Remus asked, coming down from the dorms. This made the others jump.

"Nothing!" They all said in unison. Remus raised his eyebrows, looking around wearily.

"Okay, what prank are you lot about to play on me? I'm not in the mood for anything like that! Just found out that there's going to be a blue moon in January."

"What's a blue moon?" James asked quickly, hoping to distract Remus.

"A blue moon is when there are two full moons in one month." Remus told him. "I might see if I can convince my teachers to give me my homework for the month so that I can get it done before the new year."

"Yeah, and if you can't, we can help you out, Remus." Karina told him, mentally doing a victory dance. Remus was distracted!


	11. Chapter 11

"Foxtrot! Foxtrot, wake up, its Christmas!" Karina rolled over in bed, groaning at James's voice, before she heard him beating on her door. "Get up! Its Christmas!" Karina rubbed her eyes, and looked at the end of her bed to see a pile of presents! She gathered the pile in her arms and ran with James down to the common room, where they found both Remus and Peter with only one box, and Sirius with only a letter.

"Alright! How bout you lot open your gifts first? Since you've only got the one." James told them, pushing his and Karina's presents back behind the Christmas tree, feeling bad. Remus nodded, and opened his box to reveal a scarf! A long, red and gold handmade scarf. Remus smiled.

"My mum must have made it." He told them. "And I'll bet she sat listening to the radio while she did it and got distracted, making it longer than she meant." They all laughed, and turned to Peter, who opened his box to reveal a bunch of candies! That had melted in the wrapper. Peter just shrugged, then they looked to Sirius, who's lip was trembling as he read the letter. Then he wadded it up and threw it into the fire, wiping his eyes so he wouldn't cry. Karina immediately went to him and wrapped him in a hug, letting him cry into her shoulder.

"Its okay, Padfoot." She whispered, gesturing to James, Remus, and Peter to come over. "Forget about them. We'll just have our own Christmas, won't we?" The other guys nodded, and Sirius wiped his eyes, grateful for his friends. That was when James got an idea.

"Hey! Why don't we go see if we can't smuggle Regulus in here after breakfast? Then we can have our own Christmas right here in the common room!" Sirius looked to his friends, a little uncertain.

"Mates, are you sure? I mean, Regulus is a Slytherin. I don't think he'd want to come hang out with us." Karina shook her head.

"No, he will. I know he will." Sirius sighed, but nodded.

"You can ask him, but he's probably too busy opening his own presents." James put one arm around Sirius and the other around Karina.

"Come on, Marauders! We're not going to find out if Regulus wants to join us by sitting here and talking about him!" Karina and Sirius laughed, then they all three stood with James's arms still around them, wobbling a bit. Remus and Peter laughed at them, before throwing Remus threw his arm around Karina and Peter threw his around Sirius, and the five of them sort of marched down to the Great Hall, where they found an enormous stack of pancakes, rows and rows of buttered toast, a a magic syrup bottle floating around, poring syrup on the pancakes as it passed, sugar falling like snow onto several plates. They also saw Regulus, sitting by himself at the Slytherin table. Karina went over to him and tapped his shoulder, startling him.

"Hey, Regulus." She said. "Want to come sit with us over at the Gryffindor table? I'm sure the teachers won't mind, seeing as its Christmas and Christmas is family time." Regulus looked surprised to hear such an offer. He looked over at the Gryffindor table, where the Marauders were already piling pancakes onto their plates and daring Peter to see how many hardboiled eggs he could fit in his mouth. Then he nodded.

"Yeah, sure. I'd like to join you guys." Karina smiled, then grabbed his arm and pulled over to the other side of the Great Hall, plunking him down next to Sirius before taking her seat next to James. The Marauders all went silent for a second, then Sirius patted Regulus's shoulder.

"Good to see you." Regulus smiled, and turned to Peter, who looked like a chipmunk, his cheeks were so full of eggs.

"You know, I'll bet Peter can fit more eggs in his mouth." They all laughed, and began to chant.

"More eggs! More eggs! More eggs!" Peter stuffed more eggs in his mouth, gagging a little.

"That's nearly twenty eggs!" Karina exclaimed. "Come on, Peter! One more egg!" Peter closed his eyed and smooshed the twentieth egg into his mouth. They all cheered, and Peter had to spit out all the eggs, making them all gag.

"Ugh, Peter that was gross!" Karina giggled, holding her stomach. "I think I might barf!"

"Well don't Rina. Padfoot and I are about to have a syrup off and I don't need you throwing up on me and breaking my concentration." James told her, before grabbing two of the syrup bottles going around and handing one to Sirius. "Alright mates! If you'd like, place your bets because this competition is about to begin!" Karina pulled out a Galleon and two Sickles and placed them in front of Sirius.

"My money's on Sirius!" She told them. "I've seen him take down almost a whole turkey and go back for seconds!" James made a shocked face, and Regulus placed the same amount in front of him.

"Well, my bet is on James, seeing as your betting against him. Only fair if I bet against my brother as well!" Remus stuck five Knuts in front of Sirius and Peter placed five Sickles by James. That was when three Galleons fell in front of Sirius and two Galleons and three Sickles fell in front of James. The Marauders and Regulus turned around to see Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore standing behind them. Dumbledore smiled at them.

"Just because we are teachers, does not mean we can't have fun as well." McGonagall explained, and Dumbledore conjured up a few more bottles of syrup.

"Just in case those bottles empty." He told them, winking at Karina.

James and Sirius picked up the bottles of syrup.

"Alright, bottles at the ready?" Remus asked. Both boys nodded, giving each other sideways glances. "Go!" And they were off! James was much faster than Sirius, but Sirius drank more with each gulp.

"Come on, Sirius!" Karina cheered.

"Go James!" Regulus countered, giving her a grin.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" Remus shouted.

"Go Padfoot!" Peter cheered, and McGonagall gave him a look.

"Mr. Pettigrew, I thought we were cheering for Mr. Potter." Peter's face turned red.

"Go Prongs?" They all laughed as both boys finished off their first bottles and moved onto the second bottles.

Minutes ran by, and the piles of bottles stacked up. James was finding it harder and harder to swallow the sticky substance, but Sirius kept going strong. Finally, as Sirius polished off his twelfth bottle and moved onto his thirteenth, James slammed his bottle down.

"Alright! I give! You win!"

"And the winner is none other than Sirius Black!" Remus shouted, and Karina whooped loudly.

"Pay me! Pay me, Regulus!" She told the Slytherin boy. Regulus sighed, but he handed Karina the money she owed. Peter gave his to Remus, and McGonagall grudgingly handed her's over to Dumbledore, who was smiling knowingly.

"Now that you two are all sugared up, how about you go outside and burn off all that energy?" Sirius and James didn't think twice. They both ran out the door faster than Karina had ever seen them. Karina, Peter, Remus, and Regulus made to follow them, but Dumbledore stopped them.

"Give them ten minutes." He said.

Ten minutes later, both boys came running back in, yelling and shivering.

"Its freezing out there!" James shouted, running over to Karina and hugging her close, squeezing her so hard that it was kind of hard to breathe. Sirius did the same to Regulus.

"What are you two doing?" Regulus asked, also having the air squeezed out of him.

"You're warm, we're cold! Its not Auror magic, Reg!" Sirius told him.

"Yeah, well, now we're cold!" Karina grumbled. "Why don't you two run and get your coats? We'll do the same and meet out by the Quidditch field." James and Sirius nodded, and just before they ran off, Karina stopped James and jumped onto his back. "High ho, Prongs-O!" And James and Sirius were off. Karina had to hold onto James tightly, or else she would have fallen off, he was going so fast.

As soon as they had reached the common room in record time, Karina took a leap of faith and jumped onto the couch as he dashed up to his dorm with Sirius. Then she went up herself and hurried into her coat, hat, scarf, mittens, and boots. Then she quickly ran back out into the common room, where Remus and Peter were just now coming in.

"You two had better hurry. James and Sirius should be down here in three... Two... One." The door slammed open upstairs, and both boys came running down. You could tell that they had hurried to get ready. James had his boots on the wrong feet and Sirius's buttons on his coat were buttoned up in the wrong holes. Karina sighed.

"Must I mother you two? Come here." James and Sirius went over to her and she straightened them up, whispering an enlargement charm onto Sirius's coat that didn't reach past his knees and was far too tight on his arms.

When Peter and Remus came down, the five of them ran down to the Quidditch field, where Regulus was waiting for them in his brand new looking coat.

"Bout time you lot got down here!" He called as they hurried over.

"Sorry!" Karina called. "But I had to babysit our brothers while Remus and Peter got ready." That was she felt a snowball hit her in the back of the head, seeping through her hat and freezing her ears. She shrieked, and turned around to see James with one hand behind his back, the other pointing at Sirius, who was doing the same to him.

"Oh you two are going to get it!" She bent down and made a snowball, but before she threw it, she got hit again! Sirius had run behind her and hit her on her bum!

"Hey, James! Think fast!" Remus called, and Karina watched as he threw a snowball and hit James right in the nose!

"Ah! There's snow up my nose!" James cried out, before sneezing. Peter laughed from where he stood, until he was hit by Regulus in the ear.

Soon, they were in an all out war, Remus, Peter, and Karina against James, Sirius, and Regulus. There were forts built and snowballs constantly flying. Karina didn't know how Remus did it. He'd have been so good for Ravenclaw, the way he had gotten a sturdy base up and assigned jobs to them. Peter made snowballs while Karina threw them. Remus made and threw his own, he was so quick!

The other three weren't so lucky. Their base kept falling down, and often Regulus would be rebuilding it while Sirius and James made snowballs as fast as they could throw them. Remus had even knocked Sirius's hat off and James had taken off his mittens to make snowballs faster.  
This went on for nearly half an hour, until Sirius mysteriously disappeared. All of a sudden, Karina felt the ground lift from under her, and she was lifted into the air by Sirius! The snow was so deep, he was able to hide under it and sneak into their base.

"Sirius! Put me down!" She shrieked, kicking her feet and losing her boots.

"Okay!" All of a sudden, she was on the ground, buried in the snow. She tuned herself around, rubbing her cheeks with her mitten clad hands, her knit wool socks getting soaked with out her boots. But she just laughed and sat up, turning around to see that there was the beginning of a snow angel! She lay back down and continued to make it, Sirius shaking his head as he watched her.

"You're ridiculous." He told her. She stuck her tongue out, catching a few snowflakes on it.

"You just don't know how to have fun!" She told him. He made a mock hurt face, before landing next to her, covering her in snow again as he landed. She shrieked again, feeling the cold hitting her cheeks.

After a round of snow angels, another snowball fight, and incident where Karina and Sirius tried to bury James and Regulus after they knocked over the snowman they built and wrapped in Remus's scarf, they went back inside, Karina getting a piggyback from Sirius, after Remus had stolen her socks trying to get her off of James and Regulus and her toes had turned blue. Peter carried her boots with her socks inside of them, along with James and Sirius's mittens that they had abandoned completely. Remus was trying to ring out his scarf that had been found buried in what was left of Sirius and Karina's snowman, and Regulus was chasing after James, who had stolen his hat.

When they got inside, they changed out of their wet clothes, then snuck some sandwiches and cake up the common room, as well as sneaking Regulus in. There, they played games and laughed the whole time. They hung Remus's scarf by the fire and peeled Peter's melted sweets from the wrappers. James and Regulus even split their gifts between their friends, Karina's mostly a bunch of girl things. She just kept them behind the tree, however.

It wasn't until dinner time they went back downstairs. There was an enormous turkey that Sirius nearly took down by himself, had the others not taken a piece. They pulled a few wizard crackers, Sirius getting a baby blue bonnet while James got a crown, much to his pleasure for teasing Sirius. Karina brought her kitten, Snilkens down and fed her some of the white mice that came from her cracker. Regulus had even fooled Peter into thinking that a bunch of stuffing shaped to look like a slice of pie and was covered with mashed potatoes was a piece of cake, making him weary of the real cake that came through, until Sirius warned him that he would eat his slice.

Stuffed full of a good food, Karina once again got a piggyback ride, though this time, James joined her. Karina was Remus, and James was on Sirius. Peter had offered to give one to Regulus, but they found Regulus was too heavy for him.

"Tell me again why _I'm_ carrying _you_ _,_ Prongs?" Sirius grunted as they walked through the dungeons towards the Slytherin common room. "When my little brother is as tired your little sister, who Moony is carrying by the way!" James gave Sirius a look.

"I told you, Pads. Next time we come through the dungeon to drop Regulus off at the Slytherin common room, I'll carry you." Sirius rolled his eyes, then let go of James, who fell back off of him with a yelp and a small bump as he fell on his bum. Then Sirius smiled at Regulus, who smiled back and went over to him. Sirius put his arm around Regulus and playfully knocked his chin. Regulus leaned into his brother, wrapping his arm around him. Karina smiled sleepily at the brotherly scene.

After they had bid Regulus goodnight and returned to the common room, Remus yawned.

"We'd better head to bed, guys. Its getting late."

"Not yet!" Karina told him, pulling back by the couch. "The four of us have one more present for you." Remus looked surprised, but smiled.

"Thanks, mates! What is it?" Karina grinned.

"Just watch." Then the four of them changed into their Animagus forms. Remus's eyes went wide and he nearly fell over.

"Merlin's beard." He whispered, and Karina smiled to herself as she rubbed up against Remus's leg, swishing her snowy white tail by his arm to tickle him, James knocking him gently with his antlers. "You guys really became Animaguses!" Karina nodded, before they changed back.

"What do you think, Moony?" James asked. "You think we can join you now?" Remus looked between the four of them, as if he couldn't believe it.

"I-I don't know." He told them. "But guys... That's amazing! Thank you!"

"Hey guys! Check it out!" They all looked over at Sirius, and saw that he had found a sprig of mistletoe and had stuck it to his forehead. They all groaned.

"We turn our backs on you for one minute, Padfoot. One minute." Karina grumbled. Sirius went closer to her and stuck her under the mistletoe, grinning.

"Come on, Foxtrot. For Christmas?" Karin fake gagged.

"Gross!" She turned her head way from him, and he kissed her on the cheek! "Ew!" She wiped her cheek off with her sleeve, Remus and Peter laughing.

"Hey now, watch yourself, Pads." James said in a warning tone, but he was smiling. "Remember, that's my baby sister there." They all laughed again.

That night, Karina lay in her bed, full, warm, and happy. This was definitely her best Christmas ever so far.


	12. Chapter 12

Christmas and New Year's came and went, and Lily Evans came back to Hogwarts, much to James's excitement.

"Its a new year, you lot!" He called to the the Marauders early one morning, standing up on an end table in the common room. He had woken them all up early to make this announcement. "This is the year that I get Evans to fall for me!"

"He made this speech last year." Sirius whispered to Karina, who giggled.

"Sure, she's turned me down dozens of times, but I vowed that she would fall in love with me by our seventh year! And I have a good feeling about this year!"

"James, she turned you down last year to study Potions with Snivelleus." Remus told him. "I don't think she's going to say yes this time." James jumped down onto the floor.

"Moony, my dear friend, that is where you are mistaken!" James told him matter of factly. "For you see, Evans can only resist me for so long, before she has to say yes!"

"That, and when she doesn't, you'll owe me ten Galleons." Sirius called. James sighed, but he kept his head held high.

"Just watch me, you lot! For I, James Alldred Potter, am going to make Lily Evans fall in love with me by our seventh year! And today is the day that she will admit that last year she was wrong, and we will go off into the sunset."

"I actually see you and Sirius doing that, rather than you and Evans." Karina remarked, making Remus and Peter laugh, while Sirius mocked a swoon.

"Oh, James. Won't you ride on a noble hippogriff with me off into the setting sun? Where we can live happily ever after forever and ever?" James groaned, but was not discouraged.

"Just watch, you lot. She'll fall for me. I am sure of it. Just as I am sure of Wormtail's fly being down. Seriously, Peter, pull your zipper up. You're embarrassing me." Peter quickly yanked up his fly, his face turning red. Then, Karina stood up.

"James, can you please explain to me whats going on?" He nodded.

"Gladly, Foxtrot! Last year, these fine gentlemen dared me to make my vow to make Evans fall for me by our seventh year public. I stood on the Gryffindor table and announced my love for her. And then earned detention. But nonetheless, she will love me by our seventh year!"

"We only dared him to do it once last year. He's promised to do it every year." Sirius added, and Karina groaned.

"Oh, this will be fun."

MARAUDERS

Later at lunch time, Karina sat with Remus as they worked on their Charms homework together. Peter was eating and working on Potions, while Sirius shot spitballs towards the Hufflepuff table. James, however, was watching the clock.

"Please don't do it, Prongs." Remus begged as James climbed onto the table.

"Oh no. Here we go." Karina muttered as James took a deep breath.

"LILY EVANS!" Lily looked alarmed as the students around them began to snicker.

"Potter, don't you dare!" James paid zero attention to her.

"IT HAS BEEN A FULL YEAR AND I AM ASKING YOU NOW! ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH ME YET!?" Lily stood to her feet, her face as red as her hair. Karina could see Severus getting up from the Slytherin table as well.

"NO YOU BUMBLING IDIOT!" She shouted back, earning more laughter from her peers.

"I REPEAT! YOU WILL LOVE ME BY OUR SEVENTH YEAR!" James pronounced, Severus hurrying over.

"Let's go to the library, Severus." Lily told him, and he nodded.

"Uh, okay." James pointed his finger at Severus dramatically.

"YOU'LL SEE! WATCH SNIVELLEUS! I WILL STEAL HER FROM YOU!"

"Potter, would you please descend from the table?" Karina giggled as McGonagall came over, Lily and Severus hurrying out of the Great Hall.

James looked crestfallen as he climbed off the table, and McGonagall handed him a slip.

"I'll be seeing you in detention once more, Mr. Potter." James groaned and lay his forehead on the table. Sirius patted his back.

"Nice job, Prongs. Now, if you could just not embarrass both her and yourself, I think you would get her to go out with you." James sat up and gave Sirius a cold look.

"Pads, do me a huge favour."

"What's up, mate?"

"Shut up."


	13. Chapter 13

"Kiss my delectable behind!" Sirius roared furiously, stomping into the common room and startling Karina, Lily, Remus, James, and Peter. "You can trust no one and nothing, ever!"

"But, Padfoot, what about me?" James feigned offense.

"Except you, love." Sirius told him, winking. "Don't worry." James dramatically jumped from his chair.

"Oh, darling!" Sirius fell to his knee.

"Oh, buttercup!"

"Oh, for the love of Merlin!" Lily exclaimed, packing up her books and leaving the common room. Sirius nodded at her.

"Why, yes. Well done, Evans." He said, very posh. "Spot on. I do believe Merlin would approve."

"Merlin's love, indeed." James added, and Remus sighed, closing his book.

"And so ends our quiet study hour." Karina nodded, setting her book on the table.

"Now, who must kiss your delectable behind, and why? And no, I'm not offering."

"Stupid Slytherin Quidditch Captain!" Sirius told them, flopping down onto a chair. "One of them found out about..." He looked around, making sure no one else was in the common room."My nightmares." Karina gasped.

Sirius often had trouble sleeping at night, because of nightmares about his parents. Because of this, James, being like his brother, often let Sirius sleep in his bed.

"Someone let it slip that it happened and now everyone on Quidditch knows about it! I'll be the laughingstock of the Quidditch team! I'll have to quit!"

"You can't quit, we have a game today! And its versus Slytherin!" James told him, for once being serious.

"Well, you'll have to try and get another Beater. I'm done!" Then he turned to walk away, but Karina ran around him.

"Sirius Orion Black, you listen to me and listen to me good." She told him. "Who gives a rat's arse about what the Slytherin say? No offense, Peter." She held up her hand in apologies, and he nodded.

"None taken." She turned back to Sirius.

"You are the greatest Beater to have ever hit the Quidditch field! I've never seen you lose a match! You're going out there and winning this game, even if I have to stick you to your broom!" Sirius shrugged.

"But everyone's going to make fun of me about my nightmares." She shrugged.

"So? Who cares? They're stupid! Everyone has nightmares, so the fact that they're making fun of you, is laughable! Now go out there, and win us a Quidditch Cup! For Gryffindor and the Marauders!" She pumped her fist into the air, and the Marauders followed suit.

"The Marauders!" Then the five of them ran cheering from the common room.

MARAUDERS

"And here they come, Gryffindor!" Remus called through the loudspeakers, and the whole Gryffindor side of the field cheered as they came out. "Team Captain, Keeper Andrew Wood has promised us a good game, and I don't doubt it. With his skill, he'll have quite a legacy to carry!

"Right behind him are our Beaters, Black and Simpson. Those two know how to keep the Bludgers away! And the occasional girl." Karina reached over and smacked him.

"Remus!" She hissed. Remus rubbed his arm, and returned to his announcement.

"And of course, our three Chasers, Ethan Mathias, Riley Terra, and Rose Embers, right behind them! Those three are the quickest Chasers our generation have seen on the Gryffindor team! But, quite possibly, not as quick as..." that was when a broom zoomed out and flew over the crowd, raising a cheer from the crowd. "Seeker James Potter!"

James flew over the crowd again, offering his hand for high fives, which he received plenty of.

"And now, onto Slytherin!" Remus announced, raising cheers from the other side. "First up, Team Captain, Chaser Emmett Flint. Not quite the legacy to carry over to the next generation, but no doubt one that will live on.

"And following him are his fellow Chasers, Derek Rep and Samantha Goldstein, two of Slytherin's best!" Karina snorted and looked to see if Remus was choking on his words. He wasn't, however. He was trying to keep it fair, and in doing so, told the truth for both teams.

"After them are Beaters Lestrange and Dreven. Two who also have a tendency to keep away girls, though I've heard Lestrange has his eye on the newest Slytherin Seeker... Another broom came zooming over the Slytherin side this time. "Bellatrix Black!"

Bellatrix! She was on a Quidditch team?

"She can't barely walk, let alone fly a broom!" Karina shouted, but Remus chose to ignore her that time. "And lastly we have Slytherin Keeper, Raymond Pierce, who's promised to send the Quaffle from his end through the Gryffindor pitch! Let's see if he can do it!"

"Hey, Sirius!" Bellatrix called as they rose above the the ground. "Had any nightmares about Uncle Orion and Aunt Walberga lately?" Sirius's ears turned pink.

"Hey, Bellatrix! Did you have fun playing with your waffles this morning?" James taunted. Bellatrix's cheeks turned bright red.

"Eat my dust, Potter!" She yelled back. Then the Quaffle was released, and the game started.

The Slytherins played dirty. Karina watched as Lestrange often banged into one of the Chasers, Pierce coming away from the pitch and catching the Quaffle to throw to one of his teammates, Dreven using his Beaters bat to bash people over the head. Luckily for Gryffindor, Madam Hooch was keeping a good eye on them, and Gryffindor was earning penalty shots left and right.

But that wasn't the part Karina watched. Karina was watching the battle between Bellatrix and James as they chased after the Snitch. They were going up and over and around and through the other players, after the small, fluttering ball. Occasionally, the other players would stop and watch them, then the game would continue.

"Man! James is really belting along there!" Sirius said, and Karina jumped when she saw him flying right there!

"Sirius! Get back on the field! You're supposed to be playing!" She told him. He just shrugged.

"Foxtrot, the games at a standstill. Everyone's watching those two." That was when Sirius saw the Snitch right above Karina's head, and turned around to see James and Bellatrix diving right at it! "Karina, look out!" Without a second thought, Sirius jumped over the wall and onto Karina, just before James and Bellatrix flew over after the Snitch, and James caught it!

"Another win for Gryffindor, made by Seeker James Potter!" Remus shouted, but Sirius was busy helping Karina get back up, as they were stuck under the bleachers. Karina was panting hard, barely realising what had happened. If James and Bellatrix had hit her...

"Sirius, you saved my life!" She breathed, hugging him around the neck tightly. Sirius nearly fell on top of her, but hugged her back with one hand, a little shocked by the hug.

"Uh, Sirius?" Peter tapped on Sirius's back. "James is coming. You'd better get up." Sirius panicked, and pulled Karina to her feet, just as James flew over and jumped into the stands, smiling brightly.

"We won! He cheered, yanking Karina into a hug. " we did it!" Karina hugged him back, smiling, and Sirius definitely felt better.

MARAUDER _S_

 _"_ _Blood_ _traitor_ _! "_ Sirius woke up in a cold sweat, shaking, his mother's words ringing in his ear. He lay there for a few minutes, then got up to get into James's bed like he always did, when he saw Karina lying there!

"Foxtrot!" He exclaimed softly, waking up the others. "What are you doing here?" Karina just snuggled deeper under the covers.

"Foxtrot had a nightmare, so I have to take care of her too." James explained. Sirius's jaw dropped.

"What do you mean you have to take care of Foxtrot? Wormtail, are you hearing this?"

"Every word, Pads." Peter called sleepily.

"Moony, fix this!"


	14. Chapter 14

The school year was heading for its end, and the days were getting warmer. And since James and Sirius was always out at Quidditch practice, Karina thought that he was just getting smellier and smellier.

"You smell as bad as Fang did when he found Professor Grubbly-Planks's supply of food for her Care of Magical Creatures class!" She told them one day after they came in from Quidditch practice, all gross and sweaty. "Go!" She shoved them back out their dorm, where she, Remus, and Lily were all studying. Peter was serving detention with Filch after James let off a Dungbomb in his office and Peter took the blame. "Shower, now! Go! Get clean! And stop stinking!" The two boys laughed, but James held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright! Pads, I'll take the first shower." Sirius nodded.

"Damn right, you will." James gave him a shove into Karina, who grimaced at the smell and shoved him back into the dorm room, where he flopped onto the bed. "Mates, with all this extra practice, I'm exhausted." Lily rolled her eyes.

"That's no excuse to come in here and stink up the place!"

"Shut up, Evans." he grunted. "You don't have to be in here, you know."

"Yes, we do." Karina told him, climbing onto Peter's bed that was beside Remus's and opening up her textbook. "The common room's noisy because people are goofing off down there and coming in from Quidditch. It stinks worse down there than it does up here!" Sirius pondered this for a moment, then shrugged.

"Yeah, you've got a point there." Remus just covered his nose with his shirt.

"I just can't get over that smell!" He told them, sounding funny with his nose covered. Lily pulled a vial out from her backpack. "What's that, Evans?"

"Amortenia." She told him, pulling off the cork. "A sixth year left their textbook in the library and I looked up how to make it. It's supposed to smell like something you love." Karina grinned and set down her Charms textbook.

"Sounds like a kick! What do you smell?" Lily took a sniff, and smiled blissfully.

"I smell fresh baked cookies, wild grass like in the field by my house, and..." She sniffed again, furrowing her eyebrows, frowning. "Hair conditioner." She told them. Karina and Remus tilted their heads, Sirius having dozed off.

"Hair conditioner?" Lily nodded, sniffing again.

"Yeah, hair conditioner. Not a girls' kind, like roses or anything, but kind of like a weird guy kind. It's a familiar, though I can't place who it belongs to." Karina grinned mischievously.

"Maybe its James's conditioner!" She teased. "Or Severus's!" Lily grimaced.

"Ew! I hope it's not your brother's!" Then she shook her head. "And I love Severus, as a friend, but have you seen his hair? I'm certain he can't afford conditioner."

"Let me take a whiff." Remus said, and Lily handed over the vial. Remus took a sniff, and sighed happily.

"What are you smelling there, Moony?" Karina asked.

"Roast cooking, like my mum makes it." He told her. "And the forest, but when its night and the air is cold and fresh smelling. And fresh parchment." Karina and Lily laughed.

"Of course you smell fresh parchment, brainiac!" Karina teased. "You're in love with homework!" Remus narrowed his eyes at her, then handed her the vial.

"Alright, then what do you smell?" Karina seized the vial and took a whiff.

"I smell... wood, like on a broomstick. And cherry tarts, fresh from the oven. I smell my mother's perfume, and..." She stopped sniffing, a bit confused and embarrassed by this last one.

"And... what?" Lily asked. Karina shook her head, taking the cork and sticking it back on.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Karina told them quickly, handing the vial back to Lily and picking up her quill. "Let's get back to studying." Lily smirked, but said nothing as she went back to her book.

That was about when James came back into the dorm room wearing nothing but a red towel around his waist. Karina, Lily, and Remus just stared at him as he stared back, unsure of what to do.

Finally, Remus said, "Prongs, please put some clothes on." Lily nodded, reaching over and covering Karina's eyes. James raised his eyebrows.

"You want me to drop the towel?" James asked, smirking.

"Yes please, you stag." Came from Sirius's direction, and Lily shrieked and jumped off of Remus's bed and out the door just as James's towel hit the floor, Karina right on her heels, and Sirius whistling. Remus merely turned away and shook his head.

(Brownie points to whoever guesses what that last smell Karina was sniffing was!)


	15. Chapter 15

"Okay, Prongs. This is the last Quidditch game of the season. You've been practicing for weeks and studying for finals late into the night, only to sleep in your breakfast bowl for this very moment. Are you ready?" James nodded, taking a drink from the glass of water on the table.

It was indeed the last Quidditch match of the season. Finals were done, Good marks all around for everyone, though Peter's Herbology points made up for his dismal Transfiguration, and it was time to destroy Hufflepuff for the Quidditch Cup.

"I've got this, Rina. I feel it deep in my bones! Time to annihilate Hufflepuff!" He told her, pumping his fists. Karina grinned and put her hands on her hips, looking over his shoulder.

"Where is Remus with Sirius? We've got to get you two down there for the match! Peter, and I planned a grand entrance and we need both of you!"

"Here he comes!" Remus announced, jumping onto the banister of the stairs and supporting himself against the wall. "The one who will send those Bludgers flying into the Hufflepuffs! The one who will bring home the gold! The greatest Beater of all time! Sirius Orion Black!" Sirius came in, standing on his broomstick, which, unknown to the others, Remus had enchanted so that it flew slowly and carried Sirius around like a trophy himself. Peter walked behind him, throwing glitter in the air.

"Aw! That's just like your guys' best friend handshake!" Karina told them, her voice dripping with sweet sarcasm. "Silly and full of glitter!" James scoffed.

"We do not have a best friend handshake!" He told her, then snapped his fingers at Peter, who pulled out a notepad and ran over. "Wormtail, reminder that Padfoot and Prongs need a best friend handshake." Peter nodded and wrote this down.

"Yes sir, Prongs!" Karina crossed her arms.

"James, are you making Peter be your secretary?" James's face fell and he quickly shook his head.

"No!" Karina looked to Peter, who shrugged.

"He pays me two Pumpkin Pasties an hour and a Sickle every day. I find it worth it." Karina rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." Then she pulled out her wand and aimed it at Sirius. "Ventus!" and a small wind blew from her wand, knocking him off of his broom. "Come on, you two! The whole rest of the team is waiting on you two!"

MARAUDERS

"Welcome, Quidditch fans, to the final game of the season! Between Gryffindor in first place and Hufflepuff in second! Who will take home the Quidditch Cup this year? We'll all just have to wait and see!

"Now, on the Hufflepuff side, we have Team Captain, Seeker Thomas Stout! A good eye, and a good sportsman ship! A good guy to have on your team all around! After him, we have our three Chasers, Wilma Rights, Carl Demps, and Reyna Mays! And they plan to chase Gryffindor off of the field! Get it?" Karina rolled her eyes, and Remus went back to his commentary. "Anyway, next we have our Beaters, Rimes and Simmons, and our Keeper, Ricky Flame! Good luck, Hufflepuff!

"And, as a special tribute from the Seeker's sister, Karina, we have a very special team coming onto the field!" Karina rolled her eyes again, then pushed Remus out of his seat and took over the mic.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Boys, girls, cats, and toads, Karina Potter is proud to present... TEAM GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor team cheered loudly and the Hufflepuff side clapped politely as seven brooms flew over the crowds at top speed.

"We have our team captain, Keeper, Aaaaannndrew Woods!" She announced, drawing out his name for effect as Andrew did loop de loops through the goal posts. "We have our three Chasers, Ethan Mathias, Riley Terra, and Rose Eeeeeeeemmbers!" The three of them were already flying in a pattern, holding out their wands so they spelled out Gryffindor Pride! In fiery letters. "We have our two amazing Beaters, Sirius Black and Rodney Siiiimmmpons!" The two were gliding over both sides of the crowd, offering high fives and cheering. "And lastly, but most at certainly not least, our Seeker! The one! The only! Jay-ames! POTTER!" And James shot out from the ground, where he had snuck out during the other's show, flying right through the fiery letters and holding his hands up as the crowd burst into cheers.

"Let's go Gryffindor!" Then she gave the mic back to Remus, who was worrying badly about what McGonagall might say.

"Thank you, Karina, for that astounding entrance." He said inwardly. "Now, let's get to the game!" Madam Hooch went out into the center of the field, the Quaffle, Bludgers, and Snitch was released, and they were off!

"Almost immediately, Embers has the Quaffle!" Remus commentated. "She passes it to Mathias, who passes it to- ooh, wrong team, Mathias!- Hufflepuff is now in possession of the Quaffle- Demps flies over Black, a Bludger, and Potter- he goes for the goal- and an excellent block by Wood, who kicks it to Terra- she throws it Mathias- he throws it to Simpson, who hits it with his Beaters Bat- Embers catches it- goes for the goal- Flame goes to block it- misses it- GRYFFINDOR SCORES!" Karina jumped up and cheered along with Peter and the rest of the crowd.

"Scuse me! Comin through!" Came a loud voice, and Karina turned to see a large man standing there! He had a lot of hair all over, and wore a huge moleskin coat.

He smiled when he saw Karina staring at him. "Hello! I don' believe we've met! Rubeus Hagrid! Grounds and Game Keeper here at Hogwarts!" He held out a huge hand for a handshake, and Karina returned it, seeing the kindness in his beetle black eyes.

"I'm Karina Potter." Hagrid's smile got bigger.

"Oh! Then I suppose that was you over the air! I've spent half me life chasing yer brother away from th' Forbidden Forest all these two years! Don't make me have to do the same to yeh!" Karina laughed.

"I'll try not to!"

"And another score for Gryffindor!" Remus suddenly announced. "Although, both Seekers are after the Snitch!- its a close call- Stout- Potter- Stout- Potter- AND ITS POTTER!" The crowd erupted in cheers as James held up the Snitch in one hand, Thomas Stout shaking hands with him good heartedly. "JAMES POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE QUIDDITCH CUP!"

MARAUDERS

The Gryffindor tower celebrated late into the night, the house elves in the kitchens happily bringing up treats and snack for them.

James, of course, took a lot of the credit, though he gave plenty to the rest of the team.

"Did you see how I tricked Stout into thinking I saw it?" He asked. "I dove down real quick, and came right back up! He crashed right into the ground though!"

"That was a neat trick what you did by throwing the Quaffle at the Beaters, Mathias." Sirius remarked smartly at Ethan Mathias, who just shrugged.

"I just saw an opportunity and went for it."

"Embers, that was a fantastic throw!" Andrew Woods told Rose Embers, who punched his shoulder.

"You should talk! That last block was awesome! Good job using your head!"

"Seriously, though." Riley Terra told him. "You should probably get that bruise checked out."

Finally, around one in the morning, McGonagall came in wearing her nightgown and rallied them all to bed. Karina, however, hardly slept that night, nearly too excited to sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

The first years were brought back to the train, this time by horseless, flying carriages, and Karina was able to sit with the Marauders, even though it was a bit of a tight squeeze.

As they flew, she stared out at the window sadly, not wanting to leave the school. That was where her legacy as a witch, and a Marauder came from. And she had a strong feeling that bigger things would be coming her way.

"Foxtrot, wanna play some Exploding Snaps when we get on the train?" James asked her from the seat across from her, Remus, and Peter. She shook her head, however.

"No thanks, James. I'm alright." But James knew his sister, and knew very well that she was not alright.

"Pete, scoot!" He ordered, standing up. "I need to have a word with my sister." Peter switched seats with James, and James put his arm around her shoulders. "Come on, Rina. What's bugging you?" She shrugged.

"Its just, I'm not ready to say goodbye to Hogwarts, even though I know that I'm coming back next year. I mean, my whole legacy is going to be built there! What I choose to become, my control over myself as a witch..."

"Not to mention being a Marauder." Sirius piped up, and she nodded.

"Exactly. I mean, what are we supposed to do this summer? We don't exactly live next door to each other." James nodded, already thinking hard.

That was about when the carriage landed, and they began to head to the train. That was when they heard a loud boom, and looked up to see the Dark Mark had appeared overhead! Kids screamed and ran for the train, James watching with his arm out protectively over Karina, Sirius running out of the carriage with Remus right behind Karina in the doorway, Peter cowering inside.

"James." Karina grabbed onto her brother's arm, terrified. "What's that? What does it mean?"

"Its the Dark Mark, Karina." He told her, and she remembered what he had said nearly a year ago.

 _"Five Dark Marks seen in the past two weeks? Who's all been killed?"_

 _"The Spindleshanks,_ _Gertle_ _Redwood, Evelyn_ _Teaners_ _, and two Muggle families. Mrs. Spindleshanks was a Muggle, Ms. Redwood turned out to be Muggle born, and Professor_ _Teaners_ _was a halfblood."_

So. That was the Dark Mark that appeared over their houses. And somebody here had been killed. All of a sudden, a deep, dark laughter filled the air, and a body was flung into the air and landed on the ground in the middle of everyone. It was Professor Welkins.

"Serves that filthy Mudblood right!" Came the deep voice, and they all looked up to see a man with wild looking hair, his black robes flying behind him as he came flying over and landed beside Professor Welkins body.

"Revere." Professor Flitwick was the only teacher outside currently, as Professor Sprout hadn't come out and Professors McGonagall, Slughorn, and Dumbledore had went inside to see what was going on.

Professor Flitwick pointed his wand at the man, Revere, his hand shaking the tiniest bit, and Karina didn't blame him at all. She was frightened out of her mind. "You have no business here. Begone, before Dumbledore returns." He said in his squeaky voice, and Revere scoffed.

"Please. I only came to show off my... handiwork." He gave Welkins a small tap with his foot. "To put on a exhibition, if you will." As he spoke, he walked around the circle of people who had surrounded him, students whimpering and moving away as he smiled a toothy grin at them. "Teach them, if you will. They are, after all, students." He came over to the Marauders, and spotted Karina as she tried to hide behind James's robes. He bent down to her level, his eyes dark. "Well, now. She looks quite clever. Perhaps, I'll spare her, for Fenrir Greyback!" Karina squeaked, and Remus put his hand on her shoulder. "Fenrir likes them young. Best time to turn them." James put his arm out and pushed Revere away, glaring at him.

"Stay away from my sister." Revere's eyes darkened, and his smile fell.

"James, stop it!" She hissed, grabbing his arm as Revere pulled out his wand.

"I would hold your tongue, boy." He growled. "I wouldn't want to have to kill you as well." James scoffed.

"I'd like to see you tr-" Remus slammed his hand over James's mouth, but Revere's glance had turned to Sirius, who was backing up against the others.

"Ah, Sirius Black." He droned, sauntering over to him. "I know your parents well. A very pureblood family... With a blood traitor like yourself amongst them." Sirius clenched his fists. "I hope your brother doesn't turn out as pathetic as you have." James reached out and grabbed Sirius's should before he jumped at Revere.

"Now Gregory, we shouldn't bully students like this." Came Professor Dumbledore's voice as he appeared from the crowd, Professor McGonagall on one side, Professor Slughorn on the other.

Revere turned to face Professor Dumbledore, trying to look tough, but Karina could see that his face had turned red as if it had gotten really warm all of a sudden, and she could see the sweat glinting off his face in the early morning sunlight. He was frightened.

"Dumbledore. Welcome to the show. Won't you join us?" Professor Dumbledore shook his head, smiling softly.

"Oh, I don't think so. In fact, I think its about time you head back to your master. Don't you agree, Miss Potter?" Karina jumped at the sound if her name from Professor Dumbledore.

"Y-Yes, sir." She stammered. Revere glared down at her, his wand gripped tightly in his hand.

"Little brat." He growled, but he walked away, unable to Disapparate there on Hogwarts ground.

As soon as he had disappeared, only then did the students breathe a sigh of relief and returned to getting on the train. Karina remained close to James, her heart beating with the still fear of Revere, who seemed most murderous at that moment, as well as her face quite red with embarrassment. She had made herself seem small compared to James. He stood up to the man that he'd pretty much seen murder his school teacher! It was then, she decided, that she would live up to being a Gryffindor.

No more fear.


	17. Chapter 17

The summer holiday seemed to go on and on and on for Karina and James. They often played games of Quidditch in the fields behind the house, far back where Muggles couldn't see them. But those games weren't as fun without the others. Nor were any sit down games like Exploding Snaps or chess, and they often just walked around, hot and cross. And the amount of quarreling that came from it drove their mother mad!

Their father was at work most of the day, so he didn't hear as much of the quarreling as Maria did. And she intended on doing something about it before she snapped and put them up for adoption.

What she did, she did it to surprise Karina and James. Karina and James sat in their rooms, each doing the summer homework that they had been given, when the doorbell rang downstairs. 

"I got it!" Karina jumped from her chair and zoomed to the stairs.

"No, I got it!" James came flying out of his room and shoved Karina out his way, before thundering down the stairs to the door.

"James!" Karina fussed, running after him. "Mum! Let me answer the door!" Maria didn't answer, hoping this would work.

Karina jumped three steps before she hit the bottom, and landed on top of James, knocking him down onto the ground, then crawling to her feet and trying to run for the door, but not before James grabbed her by the ankle and she fell again, grabbing onto the doorknob and narrowly avoiding a busted chin as she opened the door to reveal that Sirius stood there!

"Padfoot!" James and Karina jumped their feet and crowded in front of the door.

"Hey, mates." He said shortly, smiling as they shoved each other. "I see its been a fun summer for you two. You both look good." Both of them had merely grown a bit, James's hair getting harder to manage and Karina's getting longer.

"How'd you get here, Sirius?" Karina asked. 

"My dad apparated me here!" He said, seeming very happy about this. "He said your mum sent him and my mum an owl asking if I could spend some of the summer with you. Well, apparently, Mum said that I could spend the rest of the summer here!" That was when the siblings noticed that Sirius had a suitcase next to him, and Karina jumped up and down with excitement.

"That's amazing! I'll admit, we've been fighting a lot since summer began." Sirius laughed, then he remembered something.

"Oh! I nearly forgot! Remus and Peter are going to be coming down in a week! I read the letter your mum sent us and it said that we were all invited for next week, but I came early. My parents really wanted me out of the house." Then he looked around. "So, where am I staying?" 

"I have three beds set upstairs for you and for Remus and Peter when they get here in the guest room." Maria told him, coming into the room. "Its the first door on the left, across from the washroom." Sirius nodded, grabbing up his suitcase.

"Thank you, Mrs. Potter!" Then he hurried upstairs, James and Karina right at his heels.

When they got to the bedroom, Sirius looked around at it. It was a quaint, with a darker shade of green walls and a dark blue carpet. There were white curtains that fluttered in the small breeze coming in from outside, and three beds were set up with the same red and orange checkered blankets and white sheets with matching pillows. The closet was small and bare, with a rather large dresser beside it that held nine drawers. 

"It's not much, but Mum made it the best she could." James told Sirius, who was smiling at the room that could have fit inside his bedroom back at home.

"I think its brilliant." He told them, and meant it. It was bright and cheerful in this room, and comforting. No one out there to remind him that he was a blood traitor, or that he wasn't in Slytherin. No strange people in dark clothing to come to the house late at night and speak about Muggle and Mudblood murdering while he tried to sleep, his blanket tucked all the way up to his chin, afraid of the gruesome things that were said and made his parents only laugh.

"Now that you're here, Padfoot, you can help me train Rina!" James told him excitedly. "I'm making her try out for the Quidditch team next year!" 

"You are not making me do anything!" Karina retorted, pushing him into one of the beds and making him hit his hip, hard. "I chose to try out this year, you arrogant toe rag!" Sirius had to laugh at that. 

"Hey, Prongs! That's what Evans always calls you!" James narrowed his eyes at Sirius, before pushing Karina into the windowsill, making her hit her hip hard. She shrieked in pain, then jumped on James, pushing him to the floor, both of them yelling, and Sirius a little afraid now.

"Um, Mrs. Potter!" He called, unsure what to do. 

Maria heard the thumping and yelling upstairs, and knew that the absence of the fighting was too good to last. She hurried upstairs and waved her wand, setting off a small bang that scared the siblings off of each other.

"Now, that's enough you two!" She scolded. "Sirius is here now, an its terribly rude to ignore him over your silly quarrels! Now, shake hands with each other and apologize, then apologize to Sirius for being rude!" Karina and James gave her balking looks, before standing up and shaking his hands with each other, each trying to get a stronger grip than the other.

"I'm sorry." They said in unison, before turning to Sirius, who was trying to hold back laughter. "Sirius, we're sorry for being rude and fighting." 

"Its okay." He told them, his face red from keeping in laughter. 

"Now, I'm going back downstairs, and no more fighting!" Maria told them, then left the room, leaving Sirius to burst out laughing and Karina to punch him in the shoulder. It was going to be a fun holiday.


	18. Chapter 18

Remus and Peter arrived a few days later, and the quarrelling was gone entirely. Quidditch games were daily, usually two against two with the fifth person keeping score.

Though the days were more fun, and a terrific new school year of pranks loomed ahead, Sirius's dreadful nightmares continued. And Karina knew they were much worse than before.

She woke up once in the middle of the night to Sirius shouting in his sleep, and hurriedly dashed down the hall to the guest room, James already at the door, her parents at her heels. The light could be seen being turned on from underneath the crack in the door, and the Potters pushed through to see Remus and Peter at Sirius's side, Sirius shaking.

"Sirius!" Karina cried, clambering onto his bed and crawling over to him. "Are you okay?"

"What happened, son?" Alfred asked, coming over and putting his hand on Sirius's shoulder. Sirius shook his head vigorously, though his knees were drawn to his chest and he hugged them as if he were cold.

"N-Nothing." He told them. "Just a bad dream. I'm fine."

"About your parents again?" James asked him, crawling onto the bed next to Karina.

"I said I'm fine, James!" He snapped, cowering back again when he remembered the others were there. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that. But really, I'm okay." Maria sat down by his side.

"Are you sure? Do you want the others to leave and we can talk by ourselves?" Sirius shook his head again.

"No, but thank you Mrs. Potter." He told her. "I'll be fine now."

"I'll stay here with you, Sirius." James told him, but Alfred shook his head.

"Now James, I think Sirius has made it quite clear." He told him sternly. "If he needs one of us, he can certainly come and get us." Then he helped Karina and James off of the bed, Maria already putting Remus and Peter back onto their beds. "Now, come on, you two. Let's allow the boys to get back to sleep." Karina looked back at Sirius one more time, worried. He always slept in bed with James when he got really bad nightmares. That made him feel better.

"Are you sure Sirius will be alright?" She asked her parents, as they tucked her back into bed, James already back in bed. Maria and Alfred smiled, and Alfred pulled the covers back again.

"Come and see." Karina hopped out of bed, and the three of them peered out into the hall to see James sneaking out of his room and back into the guest room. "James is already on it." Alfred told her. "Sirius will be fine." Karina smiled, knowing her brother would take care of Sirius, and crawled back into bed.

"Now, go to sleep, sweetheart." Maria told her gently, tucking her back in. "We'll see you in the morning." Then her parents left her, turning off the light so that only the stars shone through her open window, her curtains still as no wind blew from outside.

MARAUDERS

The next day, Maria sat in her living room, sewing without magic, while the boys and Karina did some homework upstairs. It was something that she did to keep her hands occupied when she was thinking.

Today, it was about Sirius. She worried about him. He really did need someone, and James wasn't always there to help him through the nightmares.

She thought about when James and Karina were younger. When they had bad dreams, she made them some teddy bears. Karina today kept hers inside of her pillowcase, and James shoved his between his bed and the wall, not that either with acknowledge the existence of them. Maybe that was what Sirius needed! A teddy bear! Someone he could pack away with him and take with him wherever he went. He could hide the bear anywhere, and it could be his constant companion!

Of course, she'd have to give it to him in a subtle manner. She didn't want to embarrass him by going up there and handing him a stuffed bear in front of all of them. After all, he was thirteen years old. Then, she had it.

MARAUDERS

Sirius was exhausted as he fumbled up the stairs with the others. After they had done their homework, they had a very exciting round of Exploding Snaps, followed by an intense game of Quidditch that ended in Peter falling off the broom he borrowed from James, then a walk around the neighbourhood. Then, Mrs. Potter had served, a delicious dinner of roast beef with mashed potatoes, green beans, and steamed carrots.

Now, it was time for bed, and Sirius was dreading the nightmares that were to come in his sleep, when he entered the guest room, and found a small, stuffed, bear sitting on his pillow. It was a simple looking bear. It had light brown fur, that was soft to the touch. Its mouth bit was tan, and it had a smile stitched into it. There was a little black nose stitched on, and the eyes were shiny black buttons. It had two small ears that stood up to attention, and the arms and legs were kind of floppy.

Sirius knew at once that it came from Mrs. Potter. There was a small note attached to the hand, and it said,

He will keep you safe. Don't worry about what the other boys have to say.

Sirius felt grateful, and even gave the bear a small hug, before hiding it under his covers, planning on thanking Mrs. Potter in the morning.


	19. Chapter 19

The summer holiday was drawing to an end, and Remus and Peter had gone back home, leaving James, Sirius, and Karina to spend the rest of their summer together.

"So, what do we want to do today?" Sirius asked after they ate breakfast.

"We're going to Diagon Alley, you three!" Maria called from where she was washing the breakfast dishes in the kitchen. "Be ready!" Sirius's eyes went wide.

"I forgot about Diagon Alley!" He whispered to them, panicked. "I didn't bring any money!" James just shrugged, and Karina put her hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Padfoot. We can buy your supplies for you today!" Sirius shook his head vigorously.

"Oh, no! I can't ask you to do that for me!" James shrugged again, standing up from where he was sitting in his father's chair. Sirius and Karina were on the couch.

"Don't worry, Pads! Mum won't mind!" Sirius jumped up and followed him as James hurried into the kitchen.

"No, James, wait!"

"Mum!" James called as they entered the kitchen. "Sirius didn't bring any money for Diagon Alley! Is it okay if we buy his supplies for him?" Maria nodded, furrowing her eyebrows as she dried off her hands.

"Of course we can! I don't see a problem with that." Sirius looked at his feet, rubbing his arm.

"Well, I don't want to intrude-" Maria scoffed.

"Oh, nonsense! Always happy to help out a friend!"

"I-I'll make sure to pay you back..." Sirius tried, and Maria smiled as she walked over, tousling his hair, making him wince.

"Don't worry about that, sweetheart! Call this an early Christmas gift!" Then she headed into the living room. "Now come on, boys! We've got to Floo to Diagon Alley!"

"How do you do that?" Sirius asked. "Mum and Dad usually Side-Along apparate us there." Karina's eyes went wide as she yanked her shoes on.

"You've never used Floo Powder before?" Sirius shook his head. "Mum never lets us Side-Along apparate!"

"She's afraid that we'd get sick." James told him, and Sirius nodded in understanding.

"I get that. Andromeda hates apparation. She gets sick a lot when we arrive at places." James and Karina laughed as Sirius threw his hand over his mouth. Even Maria was chuckling a little. "I shouldn't have told you that!"

"Nothing leaves this house." Karina told him, her cheeks still red as Maria picked up a small bag filled seemingly with ash from the mantle.

"Alright, James, why don't you show Sirius how its done?" Maria asked him, giving him a small handful of dust. "Remember, speak very clearly. We don't need a repeat of the trip to grandma's, do we?" Karina laughed, and James groaned as he stepped into the fireplace.

"You didn't tell me how to pronounce her street name! I thought that I was being clever!"

"You ended up in the middle of Downing Street!" Karina told him, she and Sirius laughing. James groaned again, before looking up the chimney.

"Diagon Alley!" And he was gone in a flash of green fire, Sirius looking on in astonishment.

"Merlin's beard!" He exclaimed, and Karina laughed, before shoving him forward.

"Your turn, mate!" Sirius gave her a look, before taking some Floo Powder from Maria, then stepped into the fireplace nervously. He then cleared his throat, and spoke as clearly as he could.

"Di-a-gon Al-ley!" Then he found himself slamming into the chimney at Flourish and Blotts!

"Come on, boy! Get up!" The clerk shouted, pulling Sirius to his feet, just as someone else came flying through the fireplace. "Its the busy season, we have a lot of students trying to come through!"

"Sirius! There you are!" James came running over. "Where's my mum and Karina?" Sirius shrugged, looking back over at the fireplace as someone else came flying through.

"I guess there's a wait or something. Might as well go and look at broomsticks." James nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! We need to pick one out for Karina! She's going to try out for Chaser!" Sirius laughed and hurried after James as he ran to the broomstick shop and they looked around.

"How about a Silver Arrow?" Sirius asked, picking up a broomstick. "One of the best brooms out there!" James examined the broom like a professional. If there was one thing that made James act serious, was when Quidditch came into play.

"Hm, it's nice, but is it quick? She needs a quick one, but one she can also use to weave in and out between players and get up to the goal, so it has to be strong and lightweight."

"What's that supposed to mean, Prongs?" Came another voice, and they turned to see Karina standing there.

"I mean, you can't weigh the broom down." James told her. "And the broom itself can't be heavy either, otherwise you can't get up to the goalpost." Karina grinned.

"Well, its a good thing I know how to weigh a broom properly, thanks to you." She told him, before taking the broom from Sirius, threw it into the air, then caught it and balanced it on her hand, holding it right in the centre, where the broom sat perfectly balanced in her hand. "Looks balanced. Now, lets see about speed." Then she turned to the shopkeeper. "Excuse me, may I take this out for a test fly?" The shopkeeper nodded.

"Of course. Remember, at least fifty feet from the ground, watch for buildings, and return in ten minutes or less." She nodded, giving a sarcastic salute.

"Can do." Then she, Sirius, and James hurried outside, and she mounted the broom.

"Remember, take it slow." James told her. "This isn't like my old Cleansweeper that breaks down every-" she didn't even head the rest of his sentence, for he head already flown off, zooming above the shops.

"Woohoo!" She exclaimed, loving how fast this broom was! And it was almost as if she just had to think which way she wanted to turn and the broom was zooming in that direction!

She went up and around in a flip, did a few spins, and dove back down to Earth, making Sirius and James run, just before she turned the end of the broom up and gently landed safely on the ground, her cheeks red and her eyes glittering.

"It's perfect!" She told them, climbing off. "This is the broom!"


	20. Chapter 20

It was the day that they were leaving for Hogwarts. James was the first one awake, and he jumped out of bed and dashed for the shower, eager for the day to start.

"Its today! Today! Today's the day!" He sang loudly as he jumped into the shower. James liked to sing in the shower, even though he wasn't very good at it. "Today is Hogwarts day! We're going to ride the Hogwarts train today! And we're going to go back to school! And back to Quidditch! And Foxtrot's going to become a Chaser!"

From James's room, where he had been sleeping with James since Remus and Peter left, Sirius could hear James, and groaned. Sirius was anything but an early riser, and was always bugged by James in the mornings, especially because he was so loud with his singing.

"Bugger." He grumbled, covering his head with the pillow, trying to drown James's voice out.

Right next to the bathroom, Marie and Alfred slept on, quite used to their son's loud singing early in the morning, as was Karina, who slept across the hall from the bathroom, though she was slowly arousing. James's energy in the morning was genetic, though she preferred to take her morning a little slower. Lay in bed and listen to the birds chirp with her eye closed. Make a cup of tea and sit by the window to watch the sunrise. Wait for her daddy to wake up and come and give her a kiss goodbye, before leaving for work. None of the madness that ensued in James's morning.

But this morning, she had to be quick. True to James's song, it was Hogwarts day, and she had to get ready quickly. So, she jumped from her bed and undressed, redressing in her bathrobe and grabbing her towel, hearing her father moving around in his room to take his own shower.

"James! Hurry up!" She called as she went to the door and banged on it, waking her mother in her bedroom. Marie sighed, but she got up to make breakfast for her family. She always bathed at night.

"I'm out! I'm coming!" James called, clutching the red towel around his waist and hurrying back to his bedroom. "Today's the day! The sun is shining! My hair is clean! And we are getting out of here!" Karina rolled her eyes at her brother's song, before shutting herself in the bathroom, waving some of the steam out.

"Prongs, come on, mate!" Sirius groaned back in the bedroom as James dug around for some clothes. "Can't you quiet down for one morning?" James gave Sirius a look as he yanked on his pants.

"Come on, Padfoot!" He called, jumping on the bed and shaking Sirius's arms, but Sirius just pulled his arm away. "Padfoot..." James jumped off the bed and put his hands on his hips, thinking hard, before getting an idea. He poked his head out the door, making sure his parents weren't nearby. His father was in his bedroom, and he could hear his mother downstairs. Good. He then shut the door again, before stepping onto the big, shag rug in the middle of his room and changing into Prongs. He then proceeded to poke Sirius with his antlers.

"Stop it, Prongs." Sirius told him, pushing him away. James took a step off of the rug, his hoof making a clicking noise on the wooden floor, which alerted Sirius. "Prongs!" He exclaimed, sitting up. "Are you mad!?" He hissed, listening for one of the adults to come running at the noise.

"Hey, it got you up, did it not?" James asked pointedly as he changed back. Sirius groaned, and flopped back down. "Come on, mate! We gotta get back to Hogwarts!" Sirius rolled his eyes, while James's lit up. "Now there's a song! Hold on..." He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Got it!" Then he jumped onto the bed, and holding his wand upside down, he began to sing louder than before. "I'm sick of summer and this waiting around."

"Oh Merlin, you actually have a song." Sirius groaned, before finally climbing out of bed and getting dressed, having showered last night.

"Shut up, Pads! Let me have my moment! Join in if you like!" James told him, before holding his wand up again like a microphone. "Man, its September, so I'm skipping this town

Hey it's no mystery, there's nothing here for me now...

"I gotta get back to Hogwarts!" He jumped off the bed, landing on his knees. "I gotta get back to school!

I gotta get myself to Hogwarts!

Where everybody knows I'm cool!" As he sang, he leaned up against Sirius's back as he dug through his trunk, and pushed himself to a stand. "Back to witches and wizards, and magical beasts!

To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts!

It's all that I love, and it's all that I need!

At Hogwarts, Hogwarts!

I think I'm going back..." Sirius watched as James danced around the room as he sang, rolling his eyes again, but he had to smile. He was just as excited to be heading back to Hogwarts.

James saw this smile, and had another idea. "I'll see my friends, gonna laugh 'til we cry!" He sang at Sirius, before running to his closet and pulling out his broom, holding it up. "Take my Nimbus, gonna take to the sky!

No way this year anyone's gonna die,

And it's gonna be totally awesome!" Sirius furrowed his eyebrows at the slightly morbid line.

Meanwhile, down the hall where she was getting dressed and finishing packing her trunk, Karina could hear the performance, and shook her head, though she was happy that her brother was happy. And it was funny picturing Sirius trying to sleep through that racket. Her brother was not meant to sing loudly.

"I'll cast some spells, with a flick of my wand

Defeat the dark arts, no I'm not delirious!" James continued singing, before getting right in Sirius's face. "And do it all with my best friend Sirius! 'Cause together we're totally awesome!" That was when Sirius pulled out his own wand to use as a microphone.

"Yeah, cause together we're totally awesome!" He sang with a grin.

"Would you two be quiet and come down for breakfast?" Karina told them, popping her head into James's room, smiling. Both boys gave her a look, but hurried after her, each sliding down the banister in turn, Karina too eager however, and sliding down to land on top of James, who slammed into Sirius, knocking all three of them down to floor.

"Last one there is a toad!" Karina told them, and hurried off.

"Yeah, but the first one there has to eat it!" James called back, even though his hand was digging into his stomach, making it slightly difficult to breathe. "Sirius, geroff me!" He shoved Sirius off of himself, then raced after Karina, Sirius jumping up and following him, laughing at the two. As much as he would miss summer, he was glad to be heading back to Hogwarts.


	21. Chapter 21

After breakfast, Alfred and Marie took the three to Platform nine and three quarters, and Karina jumped on a bench, looking for Remus and Peter.

"I see Remus's dad!" She called, jumping down. "I see him! And I'll bet Peter and his family aren't far away!" She then ran into the crowd, leaving James and Sirius to push the trolley with her trunk and Snilkin's carrying case. "Moony! Wormtail!" She called. No reply. "MOONY! WORMTAIL!"

"FOXTROT!" That worked! "PRONGS! PADFOOT!"

"MOONY!! WORMTAIL!!" She turned around, and saw James and Sirius running behind her.

"FOXTROT!! PRONGS!! PADFOOT!!" Came again, and the three cupped their hands around their mouths.

"MOONY!!! WORMTAIL!!!"

"FOXTROT!!! PRONGS!!! PADFOO-!!!" Karina found herself slamming into Peter, Remus and his parents right behind him!

"Moony! Wortail!" She grabbed Peter in a tight hug, Sirius running over and lifting Remus up in a hug.

"Remus! Its been so long!" He cried, throwing his head back, before burying his face into Remus's chest and yelling a wordless yell.

"Sirius, its only been a month." Remus told him, bringing his arm up as much as he could and patting him on the back. Sirius threw his head back again.

"And its been the longest month of my life without you!" Sirius insisted dramatically.

"it's been so long, but we're going back!" James sang as he came running up. Remus looked at him, confused as Sirius put him down with a grin.

"Don't go for work, don't go there for class!" James smile grew, and Karina crossed her arms, rolling her eyes

"They've started their own little musical and are apparently determined to finish it."

"As long as we're together..." James sang, their parents bringing over their trolleys and them taking their luggage.

"Gonna kick some arse!" The two lifted their trunks together and pulled them onto the train as they each got a kiss on the forehead from their mothers, Sirius getting one from Mrs. Potter, and the five of them took their luggage down to their favourite compartment.

"And it's gonna be totally awesome!" They kept singing, throwing the trunks under the seats and throwing their hands into the air. "This year we'll take everybody by storm!

Stay up all night, sneak out of our dorm!" Remus rolled his eyes, but decided to play along.

"But let's not forget that we need to perform well in class If we want to pass our OWLs!" Both boys groaned.

"Merlin, Remus, why do you have to be such a buzzkill?" James asked, narrowing his eyes at him as Peter and Karina giggled.

"Because no matter how many pranks we need to pull, school is not all about fun and games. We have to study hard if we want to be good wizards and witches!" Remus told them with a satisfactory smile, hoping that would stop the show, but Karina wasn't ready for it to end.

"He can can be frumpy, but he's super smart!" She sang, referring to Remus, who narrowed his eyes at her.

"I hate you so much."

"No you don't." She teased, before continuing her song. "Check out his grades, they're "A's" for a start. What he lacks in looks, well he makes up in heart."

"Hey!" Remus exclaimed, and she grinned.

"And well guys, yeah, that's totally awesome! This year, I think I'll spend more time in the common room at a desk with Remus than messing about with two! And Peter should as well! Right, Peter?" Peter nodded, unsure what to say. He hadn't expected to be dragged into this.

"Come on, Pete!" Sirius coaxed. "Sing it!" Peter shrugged, deciding to go for it.

"This year I plan to study a lot." He sang in a higher pitched tone that the other boys couldn't hit, though his word choice made Sirius roll his eyes.

"That would be cool if you were actually hot." Karina punched Sirius in the arm, and James gave him a look.

"Hey Pads, come on,

We're the only friends that he's got!"

"And that's cool..." Sirius sang, smiling at Peter, letting him know he wasn't being mean intentionally.

"And that's totally awesome!" Peter sang back, letting Sirius know he was forgiven.

"Yeah, it's so cool!

Yeah, it's totally awesome!" They sang together, James throwing his arm around Karina, making her laugh.

"Let's take it to the hall, Marauders!" He called, leading them out of the compartment and into the hallway, Remus sighing, but bringing up the rear. He wasn't a fan of singing in public, but he was quiet enough to want to do it with his friends.

"We're sick of summer and this waiting around!" People groaned as they passed. Some laughed, while others just ignored them. "It's like we're sitting in the lost and found

Don't take no sorcery! "For anyone to see how..." They passed the compartment Lily was in with Severus, and James stopped the group to dance in front of her compartment. "We gotta get back to Hogwarts!

We gotta get back to school!

We gotta get back to Hogwarts!

Where everything is magic-coooool!" Lily rolled her eyes at them, unentertained, and James jumped up on a handrail of one of the doors as students came out of their compartments to watch the performance, Sirius pulling his broom seemingly from nowhere, flying up into the air and floating above the crowd, offering his hand for high fives, and receiving them.

"Come on, Hogwarts, sing with us!" He called.

"Back to witches and wizards, and magical beasts!" The crowd sang with them, Lily crossing her arms and leaning on the door of her compartment, Severus just watching silently from where he sat. "To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts! It's all that I love, and it's all that I need at

Hogwarts, Hogwarts!" Sirius held up his hand to stop the crowd for Karina, James, Peter and Remus.

"I think we're going back..." Then Sirius joined back in.

"We're back to learn everything that we can!

"It's great to come back to where we began!

And here we are, and alakazam!

Here we go, this is totally awesome!" Sirius began to clap his hands to the rhythm, getting the crowd into it as flew back over and pulled Karina onto his broom, James getting Remus to stand on the other handlebar over the compartment across from him.

"Come on and teach us everything you know!

The summers over and we're itchin' to go!"

"If we point you out, give your house a shout! Come on, Hogwarts!" Karina called. "Even you reading these words right now! Sing along with us and shout your house out with pride!"

"Back to witches and wizards, and magical beasts!" The crowd sang.

"To goblins and ghosts and to magical feasts!

It's all that I love, and all that i need

At Hogwarts, Hogwarts!

!Back to spells and enchantments, potions and friends!"

"To Gryffindor!" The Gryffindors roared.

"Hufflepuff!" Hufflepuff house cheered happily.

"Ravenclaw!" Ravenclaw cheered proudly.

"Slytherin!" The Slytherins exclaimed.

"Back to the place where our story begins!" They all sang together again, jumping around, making the cart shake quite a bit.

"At Hogwarts, Hogwarts!"

"I'm sorry, whats it's name?" James asked, putting his hand to his ear.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts!" The crowd sang again.

"We didn't hear you kids!" Sirius called.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts!" They sang louder than ever.

"Merlin, its great to be back!" Karina called, hugging Sirius around the middle, the kids around them cheering. Even Lily was smiling. She couldn't help but be glad to be heading back to Hogwarts, even if that arrogant toe rag Potter was there.


End file.
